The Supreme Court of India on January 21, 2025, raised the prospect of amending its 2021 verdict regarding the appointment of ad-hoc judges in High Courts, aiming to expedite the resolution of criminal appeals pending across the judiciary. A special bench, led by Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna, alongside Justice B.R. Gavai and Justice Surya Kant, highlighted the overwhelming backlog of criminal cases in several High Courts, stressing the urgent need for additional judicial capacity.
The Chief Justice shared concerning statistics, revealing that some High Courts are grappling with staggering numbers of pending criminal appeals. "In Allahabad High Court alone, there are 63,000 criminal appeals pending," CJI Khanna remarked. He continued, citing similar figures for other High Courts: Jharkhand (13,000), Karnataka (20,000), Patna (21,000), Rajasthan (8,000), and Punjab & Haryana (21,000). These numbers highlight the dire need for immediate judicial intervention.
The Court is considering modifying the earlier ruling from 2021 in the Lok Prahari v. Union of India case. The initial decision allowed the appointment of retired High Court judges as ad-hoc judges under Article 224A of the Constitution, but with strict conditions—chief among them, the stipulation that ad-hoc judges could only be appointed when vacancies in a High Court exceeded 20% of its sanctioned strength.
"We will have to deal only with the condition that the ad-hoc judges will be sitting on the benches which are dealing with criminal cases with one sitting judge as the presiding judge," the bench noted. The proposal would allow for more flexible deployment of ad-hoc judges to tackle the growing pendency of criminal appeals.
The CJI emphasized that this change would apply solely to criminal appeals, with a new provision allowing ad-hoc judges to sit alongside regular judges on Division Benches handling these cases. "We have a feeling that criminal appeals before the Division Bench can be taken up by one sitting judge as the senior judge and one ad-hoc judge," CJI Khanna stated.
In 2021, the Supreme Court had set out guidelines for ad-hoc judge appointments, emphasizing that such appointments should not replace regular judicial appointments. The Court had recognized the cumbersome nature of the process and advocated for a simplified mechanism to ensure its objective of reducing case backlogs was not thwarted.
In response to this crisis, the Court also requested the Attorney General, R. Venkataramani, to assist in the proceedings and share his thoughts on whether ad-hoc judges could be placed on Division Benches for the specific purpose of addressing criminal appeals. The bench is scheduled to continue deliberations on January 28, 2025, when further assistance from legal experts is expected.
Picture Source :
