NEW DELHI: In a move to tackle the rising pendency of cases, the government and judiciary have agreed to invoke an extraordinary provision of the Constitution to appoint retired judges with a proven track record to High Courts across the country.
As per the minutes of the meeting held between Chief Ministers and Chief Justices in April, which was approved after a long gap of nearly six months, it has been resolved that provisions of the Article 224A can be invoked to deal with extraordinary situation involving the large pendency in civil and criminal cases in High Courts. The appointments would be “subject to integrity, suitability and performance of the person”.
As per the provision, the Chief Justice of a High Court, with the previous consent of the President, can request any person who has held the office of a judge of that court or any other High Court to act as a judge of the High Court for that State. When the conference was held in April, D V Sadananda Gowda was the Law Minister and he kept the matter pending due to disagreement over certain points. The issue was then brought to the knowledge of the current minister Ravi Shankar Prasad who cleared the matter a few days ago.