The Supreme Court Collegium, led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, has given the green light to appoint five retired judges as ad hoc judges at the Allahabad High Court for a two-year term under Article 224A of the Constitution. Justices Mohd. Faiz Alam Khan, Mohd. Aslam, Syed Aftab Husain Rizvi, Renu Agarwal, and Jyotsna Sharma are the approved appointees. Article 224A allows the Chief Justice of a High Court, with the President’s consent, to designate retired judges as ad hoc judges to address insufficient judge numbers, especially in cases of high pending cases or vacancies.
The recent modifications by the Supreme Court have eased the criteria for appointing ad hoc judges under Article 224A. The requirement that 80% of the sanctioned strength must be operational before ad hoc appointments can be made has been relaxed. Additionally, the number of ad hoc judges is now capped at 10% of the High Court’s sanctioned strength. These judges are primarily designated to criminal benches, following the existing Memorandum of Procedure (MoP) for their appointments.
In a subsequent ruling, the Supreme Court granted High Court Chief Justices more flexibility in forming division benches involving ad hoc judges appointed under Article 224A. High Court Chief Justices can now create benches with two ad hoc judges or a mix of one sitting judge and one ad hoc judge. They also have the authority to decide the presiding judge for such benches.
