Supreme Court Reserves Order On Plea Filed For Appointment Of Ad-Hoc Judges In High Courts

Supreme Court Reserves Order On Plea Filed For Appointment Of Ad-Hoc Judges In High Courts

The Supreme Court (SC) reserved its order on a plea seeking appointment of ad-hoc judges in High Courts (HCs) using Article 224A of the Constitution of India.

The SC bench headed by Chief Justice of India SA Bobde was hearing a plea filed by an NGO, Lok Prahari that sought for invocation of Article 224A in order to handle the issue of pending cases at the HCs. It said that the instant matter would not be completely disposed of and interim orders would be passed in the nature of continuing mandamus.

Article 224A deals with 'appointment of additional and acting judges' and provides that "The Chief Justice of a High Court for any State may at any time, with the previous consent of the President, request any person who has held the office of a Judge of that Court or of any other High Court to sit and act as a Judge of the High Court for that State".

The SC bench also comprised of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Surya Kant, stated in its judgment that "Article 224A is a salutory provision."

The Apex Court added that if ad-hoc judges are used for clearing arrears, the Courts will be able to devote time for deciding constitution bench matters. Justice SK Kaul suggested that ad-hoc judges will hear old cases pending for over 10-15 years and the regular judges will hear the current matters.

On the previous date of hearing the SC had asked the senior advocates representing different HCs to make joint suggestions regarding the appointment of ad-hoc judges.

Senior Advocate Arvind P Datar, appearing for the Orissa High Court, submitted a written note containing suggestions regarding the trigger point for activating the appointment of ad-hoc judges, their tenure, the appointment process, allowances, etc.

Senior Advocate Vikas Singh, President of the Supreme Court Bar Association, said the ad-hoc judges must be allowed to take arbitration work.

While disagreeing to the suggestions given by the senior advocate Singh both CJI and Justice Kaul stated that allowing ad-hoc judges to do arbitration work will lead to complications and the Apex Court also expressed the view that the allowances of ad-hoc judges must be drawn from the Consolidated Fund of India.

The SC bench also stated that the allowances of ad-hoc judges would be drawn from the Consolidated Fund of India. It opined that the fitness of the person would be a relevant factor while deciding the continued appointment of judges.