Supreme Court Collegium approves 5 retired judges for ad-hoc role in Allahabad high court

The recommendation has been made in terms of Article 224-A of the Constitution for a period of two years.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court Collegium on Tuesday recommended the Centre to appoint five retired judges as ad-hoc judges in the Allahabad high court for a two-year tenure as a temporary measure aimed to tackle the burgeoning pendency of cases.

The recommendation was issued by the Collegium comprising CJI Surya Kant and the next two senior judges, justices Vikram Nath and JK Maheshwari. (PTI)

The recommendation issued by the Collegium comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and the next two senior judges — justices Vikram Nath and JK Maheshwari — “approved the proposal” for appointment of retired judges justices Mohd Faiz Alam Khan, Mohd Aslam, Syed Aftab Husain Rizvi, Renu Agarwal, and Jyotsna Sharma.

The recommendation has been made in terms of Article 224-A of the Constitution for a period of two years. In January last year, the SC allowed HCs to recommend retired high court judges to be appointed on ad-hoc basis, subject to the conditions that they will hear only criminal appeals. They were allowed to recommend only 2 to 5 ad hoc judges and in any case, not exceeding 10% of the sanctioned strength in that HC.

Under Article 224A of the Constitution of India, chief justices of HCs are entitled to request retired judges to again assume the office of a judge but the provision has been invoked only on three occasions in the past.