NOB- Bharat news: Even after more than a month has passed since the Supreme Court paved the way for the appointment of ad hoc or temporary judges in the High Courts to deal with the growing number of pending cases, the government has not received proposals for the names of candidates from the respective High Courts. Considering the pendency of more than 18 lakh criminal cases, the Supreme Court on January 30th 2025 allowed the High Courts to appoint temporary judges, which should not exceed 10 percent of the total sanctioned strength of the court.
No recommendation from Collegium yet
Article 224A of the Constitution allows retired judges to be appointed as temporary judges in high courts to help deal with pending cases. Sources said the Law Ministry has not yet received any recommendation from the respective high court collegiums for the appointment of temporary judges. As per the laid down procedure, the respective high court collegiums send recommendations or names of candidates to be appointed as high court judges to the Department of Justice in the Law Ministry. The Department of Justice then adds information and details of the candidates before sending it to the Supreme Court Collegium and then sends it to the Supreme Court Collegium for a final decision.
President’s consent will be taken
The Collegium recommends to the government the appointment of selected persons as judges. The President signs the ‘warrant of appointment’ of the newly appointed judge. The procedure for appointment of temporary judges will remain the same, except that the President will not sign the warrant of appointment. But the President’s consent will be taken for the appointment of temporary judges. Sources said that except for one case, there is no precedent for appointing retired judges as temporary judges in the High Courts.
