New Delhi, Feb 3 (IANS) The Supreme Court Collegium, headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant, on Tuesday approved the appointment of five retired judges as ad hoc judges of the Allahabad High Court for a period of two years under Article 224A of the Constitution.
“The Supreme Court Collegium, in its meeting held on 3rd February, 2026, has approved the proposal for appointment of the following retired Judges as ad hoc Judges of the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad in terms of Article 224-A of the Constitution of India, for a period of two years,” said a statement uploaded on the website of the apex court.
The apex court Collegium approved the names of Justices Mohd. Faiz Alam Khan, Mohd. Aslam, Syed Aftab Husain Rizvi, Renu Agarwal and Jyotsna Sharma.
Article 224A empowers the Chief Justice of a High Court, with the prior consent of the President, to appoint retired judges as ad hoc judges when the number of judges in a particular High Court is insufficient, particularly to address high pendency or vacancies In January last year, the Supreme Court modified its earlier directions regulating the appointment of ad hoc judges under Article 224A.
A special bench had relaxed the requirement that at least 80 per cent of the sanctioned strength must be working or recommended before ad hoc appointments could be made, while capping the number of ad hoc judges at 10 per cent of the sanctioned strength of a High Court.
The apex court had emphasised that such judges would primarily be assigned to criminal benches and that the existing Memorandum of Procedure (MoP) would apply to their appointments.
In December last year, the apex court further tweaked its January 2025 verdict and granted High Court Chief Justices greater flexibility in deciding the composition of division benches involving ad hoc judges appointed under Article 224A.
It held that a High Court Chief Justice can constitute benches comprising two ad hoc judges, or a combination of one sitting judge and one ad hoc judge, and also determine which judge will preside over such benches.
–IANS
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