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The Supreme Court suggested temporarily appointing retired judges on an ad hoc (as required) basis to address the growing backlog of pending criminal cases before several High Courts.

About ad hoc Judges

Article 224A allows the Chief Justice of a High Court to request retired judges to resume their duties as ad hoc judges, with the prior consent of the President of India. The judges appointed under this provision have full jurisdiction, powers, and privileges but are not considered permanent judges.

According to the 1998 Memorandum of Procedure (MOP), once a retired judge agrees to an appointment, the Chief Justice of the High Court forwards the judge's name and appointment details to the state's Chief Minister. 

• The Chief Minister submits the recommendation to the Union Law Minister, who then consults the Chief Justice of India (CJI). 
• The CJI’s advice is forwarded to the Prime Minister, who advises the President of India.

Supreme Court observation and Guidelines in 2021

In the 2021 Lok Prahari case, the Supreme Court ruled that the recommendation for ad hoc judge appointments must go through the Supreme Court's collegium, which consists of the Chief Justice of India and two senior-most judges. The Court also set guidelines for initiating the appointment process.

The Supreme Court stated that ad hoc judges can only be appointed if:

• Less than 20% of vacancies have not been filled through recommendations for regular appointments.
• The High Court has vacancies exceeding 20% of its sanctioned strength (excluding proposals for appointments).
• More than 10% of the pending cases are over 5 years old.

The Court recommended that each Chief Justice should maintain a panel of retired or soon-to-retire judges for potential ad hoc appointments. These judges should generally be appointed for 2-3 years, with 2-5 ad hoc judges per High Court. The appointments should be subject to periodic reviews.

The Supreme Court has noted only three recorded instances of ad hoc judge appointments under Article 224A:

• Justice Suraj Bhan was appointed to the Madhya Pradesh High Court in 1972 for one year to hear election petitions.
• Justice P. Venugopal was appointed to the Madras High Court in 1982, with his term renewed in 1983 for another year.
• Justice O.P. Srivastava was appointed to the Allahabad High Court in 2007 to hear the Ayodhya title suits.

Since the 2021 decision, there have been no further recorded appointments of ad hoc judges.

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Source: 

INDIAN EXPRESS