A case for Article 224A? Adverse reports against recommendees for AP Telangana HC judgeship

After adverse reports were received against nearly sixty candidates recommended for appointment as judges of the Andhra Pradesh and Telangana High Courts, Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi has proposed the use of Article 224A to appoint retired judges to the two High Courts..According to The Telegraph, CJI Gogoi has written to the Union government recommending the appointment of retired judges to these two High Courts. However, the Centre has yet to take a decision on the same..Charges of corruption and professional misconduct cropped up in the adverse reports against the 60-odd candidates who were in the zone of consideration for judgeship to the two High Courts. Due to the same, no appointment has been made since September 2017..The last time new judges were appointed to the High Court of Judicature at Hyderabad was in September 2017, when six lawyers – P Keshava Rao, K Vijayalakshmi, M Ganga Rao, Abhinand Kumar Shavili, Amarnath Goud and DV Somayajulu – were elevated from the Bar..The two states had a common High Court at Hyderabad until the High Court of Andhra Pradesh came into existence in December 2018. The Andhra Pradesh High Court currently has 12 judges, while the Telangana High Court has 13..Article 224A of the Constitution enables the appointment of retired High Court judges on an ad-hoc basis. This article can be used to appoint competent retired judges to continue to sit and act as judges of the High Court from where they retired, or as judges of other High Courts..However, the power to makes such appointments is vested with the Chief Justice of the concerned High Court after obtaining consent from the President..A similar move was called for to fill up vacancies in the Karnataka High Court back in 2016, albeit to no avail..More recently, the Supreme Court urged the Centre to explore the possibility of using Article 224A to address vacancies at the Tripura High Court..Bar & Bench is available on WhatsApp. For real time updates on stories, Click here to subscribe to our WhatsApp.