Retired HC judges ‘embarrassed’ to sit as junior ad hoc judges to clear pendency: CJI

Key Points

1. Retired High Court judges are reluctant to return as ad hoc judges due to embarrassment about seniority.
2. As of December 15, there are 298 vacancies in High Courts against a sanctioned strength of 1,122 judges.
3. Article 224A of the Constitution allows appointment of retired judges as ad hoc judges.
4. 1,296,374 criminal cases are pending for over a year in High Courts.
5. The Supreme Court activated Article 224A in January to address the backlog of criminal appeals.
6. Chief Justice Kant suggested giving Chief Justices of High Courts discretion to handle the issue of ad hoc judge appointments.
7. Justice Bagchi observed that the recruitment process and tenure of ad hoc judges require fine-tuning.