Supreme Court Relaxes Conditions To Appoint Ad Hoc Judges In High Courts, Says Vacancies Needn't Be More Than 20%

Relaxing the conditions to appoint ad hoc judges in High Courts, the Supreme Court on Thursday (January 30) kept in abeyance the condition in its April 2021 judgment that ad hoc judges as per Article 224 of the Constitution can be appointed only if the vacancies are more than 20% of the sanctioned strength.As per Article 224A, retired High Court judges can be appointed as High Court Judges.A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna, Justice BR Gavai and Justice Surya Kant passed the direction so as to ease the appointment of ad-hoc judges considering the high rise in the pendency of cases, especially criminal appeals.In April 2021, in Lok Prahari through its General Secretary V N Shukla IAS (Retd) vs Union of India, the Supreme Court had issued directions for the appointment of ad-hoc judges in High Courts as per Article 224A. The judgment stipulated that recourse to the appointment of ad-hoc judges under Article 244A should not be made unless 80% of the sanctioned strength is already either recommended or working.Last week, the bench led by CJI Khanna had posted the Lok Prahari case to revisit the conditions. The bench suggested that ad-hoc judges could be appointed as puisne judges in the 2-judge benches of the High Courts which deal with criminal appeals.Today, the bench noted that the pendency in High Court cases has increased a lot. More than 62 lakh cases are pending in High Court, of which more than 18 lakh are criminal cases and 44 lakh are civil cases. Suspending the conditions imposed in the April 2021 judgment, the Court ordered today :"Having regard to the situation, we are inclined to keep the observations from the conditions stipulated in paragraphs 43, 54 and 55 of the order and judgement dated 28.4.2021 that recourse to the appointment of ad hoc judges under Article 244A should not be made unless 80% of the sanctioned strength is already either recommended or working. In other words, the requirement that vacancies should not be more than 20% of the sanctioned strength for the time being shall be kept in abeyance."The Court also directed that each High Court shall keep the appointment of ad-hoc judges 2-5 in number but not exceeding 10% of the sanctioned strength. The ad hoc judges will sit in a bench presiding over by a sitting judge of the HC and decide pending criminal appeals."Each High Court may appoint ad hoc judges by taking recourse to Article 224A for appointment of ad hoc judges between two to five in number but not exceeding 10% of the 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," the Court observed today.The Memorandum of Procedure already in place will be applied and resorted to for appointments of ad hoc judges, the Court clarified.The Court also kept in abeyance the observation in paragraph 61 of the April 2021 judgment that division benches in High Courts can be formed consisting only of ad hoc judges.Also Read -Explained| Ad Hoc Judges In High Courts : Procedure For Appointment & Tenure Case : Lok Prahari through its General Secretary vs Union of IndiaCitation : 2025 LiveLaw (SC) 144Click Here To Read/Download Order

Supreme Court Relaxes Conditions To Appoint Ad Hoc Judges In High Courts, Says Vacancies Needn't Be More Than 20%

Anmol Kaur Bawa

The High Courts may recommend the appointment of 2-5 ad hoc judges not exceeding 10% of the strength. They will sit as junior judges in division benches hearing criminal appeals.

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