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

New Delhi: Considering a backlog of over 18 lakh criminal cases, the Supreme Court on Thursday allowed the high courts to appoint ad-hoc judges, not exceeding the 10 per cent of the court's total sanctioned strength.

A special bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justices B R Gavai and Surya Kant relaxed and kept in abeyance certain conditions the top court had imposed in its April 20, 2021 judgment on appointment of ad-hoc judges in the high courts.

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.

While one condition said the ad-hoc judges couldn't be appointed if a high court worked with 80 per cent of its sanctioned strength, the other said ad-hoc judges could sit separately on benches to deal with cases.

Relaxing the conditions, CJI Khanna said, "Having regard to the situation, we are inclined to keep the observations from the conditions...of the order and judgement dated April 20, 2021 that recourse to the appointment of ad-hoc judges under Article 224A should not be made unless 80 per cent of the sanctioned strength is already either recommended or working," said the CJI. The court said, "In other words, the requirement that vacancies should not be more than 20 per cent of the sanctioned strength for the time being shall be kept in abeyance." The bench said each high court should keep the appointment to two to five ad-hoc judges and not exceed 10 per cent of the total sanctioned strength.

"The ad-hoc judges will sit in a bench presided over by a sitting judge of the high court and decide pending criminal appeals," said the apex court's order.