In a rare move, the Supreme Court Collegium approved a proposal to appoint five retired judges as 'ad hoc judges' of the Allahabad High Court for a period of two years under Article 224A of the Constitution of India..In a resolution passed at its meeting held on February 3, the Collegium cleared the names of the following judges to sit and act as ad hoc judges of the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad. - Justice Mohd. Faiz Alam Khan;- Justice Mohd. Aslam;- Justice Syed Aftab Husain Rizvi; - Justice Renu Agarwal; and - Justice Jyotsna Sharma..Pertinently, Justice Mohd. Faiz Alam Khan is currently serving as a judicial member of NCLAT since May 2025. .The appointments are to be made in terms of Article 224A, which enables the Chief Justice of a High Court, with the President's prior consent, to appoint retired judges as ad hoc judges to handle situations like high backlogs and/or high vacancy rates..This might be the fourth such instance when Article 224A has been invoked..In 2021, the Court had “activated” the previously unused Article 224A and framed guidelines for appointing ad hoc judges to handle the huge backlog of High Court cases.The Court had also made it clear that Article 224A can be used only after steps have been taken to fill regular judicial vacancies.Subsequently, in January 2025, a three-judge Bench led by then CJI Sanjiv Khanna, with Justices BR Gavai and Surya Kant, eased the rules on appointing ad hoc judges in High Courts to tackle rising pendency, especially in criminal matters.In December last year, the top court tweaked the January 2025 verdict and granted High Court Chief Justices greater flexibility to decide the composition of division benches involving ad hoc judges appointed under Article 224A of the Constitution.A Bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi held that a High Court Chief Justice can set up benches of two ad hoc judges, or a bench with one sitting judge and one ad hoc judge, and also decide who will preside..Allahabad High Court, the country’s largest High Court by sanctioned strength and case filings, currently has only 110 judges though its sanctioned strength is 160..[Read Collegium Statement].Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.
