NEW DELHI: With case pendency exceeding 65 lakh in high courts, Supreme Court Thursday lamented that its 2021 judgement for re-engaging retired judges as ad hoc high court judges under Article 224A to speed up case disposal remained on paper, despite having been diluted, because of resistance from bar associations.Dealing with a case related to pension of judges, a bench of CJI Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana said the attempt to avail services of some retired judges with impeccable integrity to speed up disposal of cases in HCs has not fructified as bar associations are passing resolutions against such appointments.“Retired high court judges have established lucrative practices in Supreme Court or are enjoying better gains in conducting arbitration proceedings or in writing opinions. They are reluctant to become ad hoc judges,” said Justice Bagchi.In 2021, the apex court had activated the dormant Article 224A of Constitution and issued general guidelines for re-engagement of retired judges as ad hoc judges of HCs to help clear backlog of cases, many of them more than 15 years old. In Allahabad HC, there are more than 12 lakh cases pending.
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On Jan 30 last year, a bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna, B R Gavai and Surya Kant had diluted certain tough conditions recorded in the 2021 judgment and had said a maximum of five retired HC judges could be reappointed to an HC but their number would not exceed 10% of that HC’s sanctioned judge strength.Two important conditions in the 2021 judgement that were kept in abeyance in Jan 2025 were ad hoc judges can be appointed only when there is less than 20% vacancy in an HC; and if 10% of the pending cases were more than five years old.Till 1970, some retired SC judges were reappointed as ad hoc judges in the apex court. But it was rarely the practice in HCs, with retired judges being appointed only for specific purposes – Justice Suraj Bhan to Madhya Pradesh HC in Nov 1972 for disposal of election petitions; Justice P Venugopal for two years in Madras HC in Aug 1983; and Justice O P Srivastava to Allahabad HC in 2007, as he was part of the special bench hearing Ayodhya suits.
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