The Supreme Court's Decision
On January 30, the Supreme Court allowed High Courts to appoint retired judges on an ad-hoc basis for criminal appeals.
This decision relaxes the 2021 rule limiting such appointments to High Courts with judicial vacancies exceeding 20%.
Appointment Process of Ad-Hoc Judges
Article 224-A allows retired judges to be appointed to High Courts on an ad-hoc basis with both the judge's and President's consent.
These judges have the same powers as sitting judges and are paid allowances determined by the President.
The process is governed by the 1998 Memorandum of Procedure (MoP).
When Are Ad-Hoc Judges Appointed?
Ad-hoc judges can be appointed when vacancies exceed 20% of a High Court’s sanctioned strength, or if cases have been pending for more than five years.
Other triggers include high case pendency rates or low clearance rates.
The Supreme Court clarified that ad-hoc appointments should only happen when regular judicial appointments have not been made for vacancies under 20%.
Details of the Latest Order
The Court noted 62 lakh pending cases across High Courts, including 18.2 lakh criminal cases.
It allowed ad-hoc judges to be appointed even if judicial vacancies are under 20%.
Ad-hoc judges will only hear criminal appeals and their number cannot exceed 10% of a High Court’s sanctioned strength (2 to 5 judges per High Court).
Previous Instances of Ad-Hoc Appointments
There have been only three prior ad-hoc appointments: Justice Suraj Bhan in 1972, Justice P. Venugopal in 1982, and Justice O.P. Srivastava in 2007 for specific cases.
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