The Allahabad High Court Bar Association (HCBA) has opposed the Supreme Court Collegium’s recent recommendation to appoint five retired judges as ad hoc judges of the Allahabad High Court.
In a representation addressed to the President of India, Droupadi Murmu, the HCBA has termed the move inexplicable, adding that it has been a cause for consternation among lawyers in Uttar Pradesh.
Copies of the letter have also been marked to Union Minister of State in charge of Law and Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal and the Chief Justice of India Surya Kant.
The HCBA has questioned whether the five judges picked by the Collegium to act as ad hoc judges are best suited for the task, adding that they seem to have been picked "out of the blue."
Even if ad hoc appointments are necessary, the Collegium has failed in selecting the most suitable persons, the HCBA has alleged.
The logical choice would be to appoint judges who have had a record of fast and effective case disposals, the letter says. The HCBA goes on to add that this is not the case with the proposed ad hoc judges.
The letter relies on internet searches, including on the legal website Manupatra, to claim that at least four of the five selected ad hoc judges disposed of a minuscule number of cases.
“It would be apt to point out that if appointments were to be made from the pool of retired Judges, recent retirees will be found to be having better and more effective disposal on merits than the chosen five. A search on the net shows minuscule number of cases having been decided by at least four of five judges during their tenure of almost two years as High Court judge … Several judges who have retired in between 2024-25 would be younger and more fit for effective disposal of cases," the representation said.
According to the bar body, the Supreme Court Collegium’s recommendation seemingly contravenes Article 224A of the Constitution since the appointment of ad hoc judges is within the domain of the High Court Chief Justice with consent from the President and not the Supreme Court Collegium.
The association goes on to argue that shortfalls in the number of judges on the High Court Bench should be filled in by making regular judicial appointments or by choosing judges from among eligible lawyers or judicial officers.
“Appointing five judges from a pool of retired judges to fill up any vacancies in the High Court at Allahabad merely deprives eligible persons of the legal fraternity from being appointed to a sensitive constitutional post while the post is filled by a retired High Court judge whose innings in the system is already complete," the letter said.
It concludes by lamenting that the entire process appears to have been done without consulting stakeholders, especially the Bar, to circumvent making regular appointments to fill judicial vacancies.
The letter has been signed off by Allahabad HCBA President, Senior Advocate Rakesh Pande and its Honorary Secretary Advocate Akhilesh Kumar Sharma.