The High Court Bar Association (HCBA) of Allahabad has formally registered a strong protest against the Supreme Court Collegium’s recent proposal to appoint five retired judges to the Allahabad High Court on an ad hoc basis. In a letter addressed to the President of India, the Bar Association labeled the move “inexplicable” and argued that the selection process bypassed constitutional norms and failed to consult key stakeholders.
The controversy centers on the invocation of Article 224-A of the Constitution, which allows for the appointment of retired judges to sit and act as judges of a High Court. The HCBA contends that the current proposal—aimed at tackling the massive case backlog in Uttar Pradesh—was initiated in a manner contrary to the intended constitutional scheme.
Constitutional Validity Questioned
In the letter dated February 5 and released to the public on Thursday, the HCBA argued that Article 224-A requires the initiation of such appointments to come from the Chief Justice of the concerned High Court, followed by the prior consent of the President of India.
The Bar suggested that the Supreme Court Collegium’s direct involvement in this specific invocation appears to step outside the traditional procedural framework. Furthermore, the association expressed “widespread concern” regarding the transparency of the selection, claiming the five retired judges were “picked out of the blue” rather than being selected through a rigorous evaluation of the entire pool of available retired jurists.
Efficiency and Pendency Concerns
While the SC Collegium intended these appointments to mitigate delays and high case pendency, the HCBA argued that the move might achieve the opposite. The Bar stated that if ad hoc appointments are necessary due to delays in regular judicial recommendations, preference should be given to retired judges with “proven records of swift and effective disposal of cases.”
The association further alleged that the move appears to:
- Circumvent regular appointments against existing vacancies.
- Exclude stakeholders, specifically the Bar, from the consultative process.
- Potentially defeat the ultimate purpose of clearing the judicial backlog.
The Proposed Appointees
The Supreme Court Collegium had earlier this month approved a two-year ad hoc term for five retired judges:
- Justice Mohd. Faiz Alam Khan
- Justice Mohd. Aslam
- Justice Syed Aftab Husain Rizvi
- Justice Renu Agarwal
- Justice Jyotsna Sharma
The HCBA’s petition to the President urges a reconsideration of the procedure, emphasizing that appointments to constitutional posts must be accompanied by an exercise that ensures the “best” candidates are chosen to maintain the integrity of the judiciary.
