
In a significant order to deal with the massive backlog of cases, the Supreme Court on Thursday allowed high courts to appoint ad-hoc judges, not exceeding 10 per cent of the court's total sanctioned strength.
As per the National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG), as of January 20, 2025, more than 62 lakh cases, including 16 lakh criminal cases, are pending for disposal before high courts in India.
Legal experts welcomed the apex court's order, saying it will have a positive impact in reducing the pendency of cases in HCs.
Noted criminal lawyer Kamini Jaiswal, talking to The New Indian Express, said that the increase in judges in HCs will definitely reduce the backlog of cases. Echoing her, former Additional Solicitor General and senior Supreme Court lawyer K C Kaushik said, with this order, the pendency of cases in HCs is going to be less.
The apex court on Thursday directed that ad hoc judges will sit on a bench presided over by a sitting judge of the High Court and decide pending criminal appeals.
"Each HC may appoint ad hoc judges by taking recourse to Article 224A of the Constitution of India. The appointment of judges shall not exceed 10 per cent of the sanctioned strength. The ad hoc judges will sit in a bench presided over by a sitting judge of the High Court and decide pending criminal appeals," the court said in its order.
A three-judge special bench of the apex court, led by Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and including Justices B R Gavai and Surya Kant, relaxed and kept in abeyance certain conditions the top court had imposed in its April 20, 2021 judgment on appointment of ad-hoc judges in the high courts.
The verdict, which was earlier authored by former Chief Justice S A Bobde, directed retired high court judges to be appointed as ad-hoc judges for a period of two to three years to clear the backlog of cases.
The apex court pronounced the order after hearing a plea filed by a non-governmental organisation (NGO), Lok Prahari, which had sought a direction to resolve the problem of pendency of cases in various high courts.