The Supreme Court on Thursday suggested a less cumbersome and even "out-of-the-box" thinking, including roping in senior lawyers to act as ad hoc judges in High Courts, to meet the rising tide of pendency.
A Bench led by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul said senior advocates in High Courts may not be willing to give up their lucrative legal practices permanently, but may be interested in joining the Bench as ad hoc judges under Article 224A of the Constitution for a limited period of may be two years.
"We should not have the procedure so cumbersome that the whole purpose is lost," Justice Kaul, heading a three-judge Bench, addressed Attorney General R. Venkataramani.
The court pointed out that retired judges who were willing to come back to the Bench as ad hoc judges would bring their experience in dealing with arrears.
"You [government] have to forget you are appointing judges, you are appointing ad hoc judges. Once the Chief Justice recommends it should happen in a matter of days, if it goes for long no one will come back," Justice Kaul addressed the government.
The court was hearing a case filed by NGO Lok Prahari seeking invocation of Article 224A for appointment of ad hoc judges in High Courts.
In April last year, the court had identified five situations in which the judiciary could seek the aid of ad hoc judges, including of the vacancies were over 20%, cases were pending for over five years and if the rate of disposal had sharply dipped in comparison to the filing of cases.
The case is listed next on February 8.
