‘Adhoc judges not to be appointed against regular vacancies in HCs’

The Supreme Court Tuesday said the appointment of former judges as ad-hoc judges in high courts would not be at the expense of the regular judges.  A bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde, by a judgement, activated “dormant” and rarely-used Article 224A of the Constitution and paved way for appointment of retired high court judges as ad-hoc ones for a period of two to three years to clear the backlog.

“We may, however, hasten to add that the objective is not to appoint ad-hoc judges instead of judges to be appointed to the regular strength of the High Court(apprehension expressed by Mr. Vikas Singh, Senior Counsel, President of the Supreme Court Bar Association),” the bench, also comprising Justices S K Kaul and Surya Kant, said in the judgment.

   

The SCBA President, during the hearing, had voiced the concern saying that the appointment of ad-hoc judges may be done at the expense of regular judges.

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