In a significant development, the Supreme Court Collegium today approved the appointment of retired Judges as ad hoc Judges of the Allahabad High Court in terms of Article 224A of the Constitution, a rarely invoked provision.

The approval is given for appointment for a period of two years.

The following are the retired Judges who have been recommended for appointment as ad hoc Judges :

1. Justice Mohd. Faiz Alam Khan

2. Justice Mohd. Aslam

3. Justice Syed Aftab Husain Rizvi

4. Justice Renu Agarwal, and

5. Justice Jyotsna Sharma.

Allahabad High Court is grappling with a huge pendency of cases, especially criminal cases. In the 2021 judgment in Lok Prahari through its General Secretary V N Shukla IAS (Retd) vs Union of India and others, the Supreme Court had laid down the guidelines for the appointment of ad hoc judges under Article 224A. Article 224A enables a Chief Justice of a High Court, with the previous consent of the President, to request a former High Court judge to "sit and act as a judge" of the High Court to hear cases. The provision has been invoked very rarely in the judicial history of India.

In January 2025, the Supreme Court relaxed the condition that the vacancies should be more than 20% of the sanctioned strength for the appointment of ad hoc judges. In December last year, the Court clarified that ad hoc Judges can either sit on single benches or can be part of division benches with sitting Judges.

Click here to read the Collegium resolution