Wed Jan 22 01:48:20 UTC 2025: ## Supreme Court Proposes Ad-Hoc Judges to Tackle Criminal Case Backlog
**New Delhi, January 22, 2025** – The Supreme Court of India is considering appointing ad-hoc judges to high courts to address the overwhelming backlog of criminal appeals. A special bench, citing alarming figures of pending cases – including 63,000 in Allahabad High Court alone – suggested modifications to a 2021 judgment that allows for the appointment of retired judges to temporarily assist.
The court noted significant backlogs in several high courts: 13,000 in Jharkhand, 20,000 in Karnataka, 21,000 in Patna, 8,000 in Rajasthan, and 21,000 in Punjab and Haryana. Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna emphasized that ad-hoc judges would only be appointed to courts operating below 80% of their sanctioned judicial strength and would serve alongside sitting judges on benches specifically handling criminal appeals.
The court aims to streamline the appointment process, previously deemed cumbersome, to effectively utilize Article 224A of the Constitution, which permits such appointments with the President’s consent. The Attorney General has been requested to assist the court in finalizing the modifications on January 28th. The bench is currently reviewing the implementation of its 2021 judgment in the *Lok Prahari v. Union of India* case. The court’s decision follows concerns regarding the significant delay in the resolution of criminal appeals.
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