Considering a backlog of over 18 lakh criminal cases, the Supreme Court on Thursday allowed the high courts to appoint ad-hoc judges, not exceeding the 10 per cent of the court’s total sanctioned strength.
A special bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justices B R Gavai and Surya Kant relaxed and kept in abeyance certain conditions the top court had imposed in its April 20, 2021 judgment on appointment of ad-hoc judges in the high courts.
The verdict, which was authored by former Chief Justice S A Bobde, directed retired high court judges to be appointed as ad-hoc ones for a period of two to three years to clear the backlog.
While one condition said the ad-hoc judges couldn’t be appointed if a high court worked with 80 per cent of its sanctioned strength, the other said ad-hoc judges could sit separately on benches to deal with cases.