Bar bodies foiled plan to rope in ex-judges: Supreme Court

NEW DELHI: On Thursday, the Supreme Court lamented that its 2021 judgment to engage retired judges as ad hoc high court judges under Article 224A to expedite case disposal remained on paper due to opposition from bar associations. In a case related to judges' pensions, a three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana expressed disappointment that the plan to recruit some retired judges with impeccable integrity to speed up case disposal in high courts has not succeeded.

Bar associations are passing resolutions against such appointments, as retired high court judges have established lucrative practices in the Supreme Court or are earning better gains by conducting arbitration proceedings or writing opinions. Justice Bagchi noted that they are unwilling to become ad hoc judges. In 2021, the apex court had activated the dormant Article 224A of the Constitution and issued general guidelines for re-engaging retired judges as ad hoc judges of high courts to help clear the backlog of cases, many of which were more than 15 years old.

The Allahabad High Court, for instance, has over 12 lakh cases pending. In January 2025, a bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna, B R Gavai, and Surya Kant diluted certain stringent conditions mentioned in the 2021 judgment, allowing a maximum of five retired high court judges to be reappointed to a high court, but their number would not exceed 10% of that high court's sanctioned judge strength.

Two key conditions from the 2021 judgment that were put on hold in January 2025 were that ad hoc judges could only be appointed when there was less than 20% vacancy in a high court, and if 10% of the pending cases were more than five years old.