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Why SC activated Article 224A, which was lying dormant for 58 years
New Delhi, Apr 21: An article in the Indian Constitution that has been dormant for 58 years has been activated by the Supreme Court to allow appointment of retired High Court judges as ad hoc judges for two to five years.
The decision to activate Article 224A of the Constitution was taken to clear the huge pendency of cases in the judiciary. A Bench headed by Chief Justice of India, S A Bobde clarified that the appointment of ad hoc judges would not be against the vacancies in the sanctioned strength of judges in a HC.
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Days before demitting office, the Chief Justice of India gives crucial directives to fast-track the course of justice in the HCs
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UPDATED: April 22, 2021 21:22 IST
The Chief Justice of India, Shri Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde addressing at the 79th Foundation Day Celebrations and All India Members Conference of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, in New Delhi on January 24, 2020.
At the beginning of the year, the Supreme Court of India had over 65,000 cases pending before it. The latest available data on September 16, 2020 show that the high courts were yet to decide on more than 5 million cases while the district and subordinate courts were sitting over nearly 35 million cases. Apart from causing anguish to those who move the courts seeking justice, this delay in delivery of justice cost India around 0.5 per cent of the
Clarifying that appointment of ad hoc judges would not be against vacancies in the sanctioned strength of judges in an HC, a bench of Chief Justice S A Bobde and Justices S K Kaul and Surya Kant took the historic step to chart out structured implementation of Article 224A.
NEW DELHI: Activating Article 224A of the Constitution that had been dormant for 58 years, the Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed high court chief justices to start appointing retired HC judges as ad hoc judges for two to five years if the HC faced pendency of a large number of cases.
Clarifying that appointment of ad hoc judges would not be against vacancies in the sanctioned strength of judges in an HC, a bench of Chief Justice S A Bobde and Justices S K Kaul and Surya Kant took the historic step to chart out structured implementation of Article 224A, which was there in the original Constitution adopted in 1949 but was deleted in 1956 only to be reintroduced in 1963.