Ad hoc Judges in High Court

Table of Contents

Context

The Supreme Court of India suggested appointing retired judges on an ad hoc basis to tackle the backlog of pending criminal cases in several High Courts.

Ad Hoc Judge Appointment Process – Article – 224 A

The Chief Justice of a High Court (CJ) may request a retired judge to act as a High Court judge with the President’s consent.
Appointees enjoy the same jurisdiction, powers and privileges as active judges but are not officially considered permanent judges.
Both the retired judge and the President must consent to the appointment.

Procedure for Appointment – Defined in the 1998 Memorandum of Procedure (MOP):

The process starts after the retired judge consents to the appointment.
The CJ forwards the name and proposed tenure to the state’s Chief Minister (CM).
The CM sends the recommendation to the Union Law Minister.
The Union Law Minister consults the Chief Justice of India (CJI) and forwards the recommendation to the Prime Minister.
The Prime Minister advises the President on whether to approve the appointment.

Facts

● Article – 224 A was inserted by the Constitution (15th Amendment) Act, 1963.

● Other Important Amendments made by 15th CAA:

○ Retirement age: The retirement age for High Court judges was increased from 60 to 62 years.

○ Writs: High Courts could issue writs to people or authorities outside their territorial jurisdiction if the cause of action was within their jurisdiction. (Article – 226 (2).

2021 SC Decision: Key Modifications:

In the Lok Prahari v. Union of India (2021) case, the SC ruled:
- Recommendations for ad hoc judges must go through the Supreme Court Collegium (CJI + 2 seniormost judges).
- The court also provided guidelines for when this appointment process can be initiated.
When Can Ad Hoc Judges Be Appointed ?
- Vacancy Criteria: Appointments under Article 224A should only occur if vacancies exceed 20% of the High Court’s sanctioned strength (excluding pending proposals for regular judge appointments).
- Trigger Point: If more than 10% of pending cases are over 5 years old.
- The process should be initiated only after regular appointment efforts have been made.
- Tenure and Numbers: Ad hoc judges should generally be appointed for 2-3 years. Two to five ad hoc judges can be appointed per High Court.
- Panel of Judges: Each Chief Justice must maintain a panel of retired or soon-to-retire judges for potential ad hoc appointments.