Supreme Court allows HC to appoint ad-hoc judges to deal with case backlog

The verdict, which was authored by former Chief Justice S A Bobde, directed retired high court judges to be appointed as ad-hoc ones for a period of two to three years to clear the backlog.

New Delhi:  In attempt to tackle mounting pendency of cases, the Supreme Court on Thursday relaxed the conditions to appoint ad-hoc judges’ in various High Courts, allowing such retired judges to sit with regular judges in division benches.

A special bench of Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and Justices B R Gavai and Surya Kant kept in abeyance a condition, in its April 2021 judgment, that the ad-hoc judges, as per Article 224 of the Constitution, can be appointed only if the vacancies are more than 20 % of the sanctioned strength.

Earlier, the apex court had expressed that it would relax certain conditions outlined in an April 2021 judgment for the appointment of ad-hoc judges to the High Courts.

The court issued the direction to ease the appointment of ad-hoc judges considering the high rise in the pendency of cases.It said each High Court can appoint two to five judges and in any case, the number should not exceed 10 % of the sanctioned strength. The apex court said each High Court should appoint ad hoc judges by taking recourse to Article 224A.

The bench said the memorandum of procedure in place would be applied and resorted to for such appointments. 

"If required, this bench shall re-assemble for further directions. Liberty granted to parties to move an application if required," the bench said. 

The court clarified ad hoc judges will sit in a bench presided over by a sitting judge of the High Court and decide pending criminal appeals.

In April 2021, in the case of Lok Prahari Vs Union of India, the court, for the first time, had proposed the appointment of ad-hoc judges to High Courts. However, it had then cautioned against routinely resorting to appointing judges on an ad hoc basis instead of making regular judge appointments.

As per the data, more than 62 lakh cases including of over 18 lakh of criminal cases are pending before various High Courts across the country.