New Delhi: Chief Justice of India Surya Kant Thursday said opposition from bar associations had stopped the Supreme Court’s attempt to bring retired judges back to high courts as ad hoc judges to battle the pendency of cases.
“Chief Justice Bobde, Justice Kaul and my bench, we virtually revived the practice of appointing ad hoc judges from among retired judges. We thought we would bring this practice into vogue.
“But opposition from bar associations prevented the initiative from taking off… they started passing resolutions… no chief justice can risk annoying the Bar,” the CJI said.
The CJI and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana were hearing a matter related to the seniority of judicial officers in Rajasthan.
Article 224A establishes a constitutional mechanism that allows retired High Court judges to be temporarily reappointed as judges of High Courts.
The CJI also recalled an incident in which two judicial officers in Haryana and Punjab resigned from judicial service after seven to eight years due to new pension rules.
“Very bright officers who were practising advocates in the High Court. They went, and after seven years, eight years, they resigned. One of them met me.
“I asked him, ‘What have you done?’ He said, ‘Sir, because of the new pension rules, after my retirement, I will not get more than Rs 25,000 as pension. How do you think I am going to survive? Better I resume my practice again’,” the CJI recalled.
Senior advocate P S Patwalia, appearing in the matter, requested the court to examine the pension issue for judicial officers.
Considering a backlog of over 18 lakh criminal cases, the top court January 30 last year had allowed the high courts to appoint ad hoc judges, not exceeding 10 per cent of the court’s total sanctioned strength.
