Nod to appoint 3 additional judges as permanent judges

Subject : Polity

The Supreme Court Collegium headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud y approved the proposal for appointment of three Additional Judges as Permanent Judges in the Kerala High Court.

Appointment of High Court Judges

Article 217 of the Constitution: It states that the Judge of a High Court shall be appointed by the President in consultation with the Chief Justice of India (CJI), the Governor of the State.
In the case of appointment of a Judge other than the Chief Justice, the Chief Justice of the High Court is consulted.

Consultation Process:

High Court judges are recommended by a Collegium comprising the CJI and two senior-most judges.
The proposal, however, is initiated by the Chief Justice of the High Court concerned in consultation with two senior-most colleagues.
The recommendation is sent to the Chief Minister, who advises the Governor to send the proposal to the Union Law Minister.
The Collegium takes the call on the elevation.

Additional Judges:

The appointment of retired judges was provided for in the Constitution under Article 224.
Constitution provides that if by reason of any temporary increase in the business of a High Court or by reason of arrears of work therein, it appears to the President that the number of the Judges of that Court should be for the time being increased, the President may appoint duly qualified persons to be additional Judges of the Court for such period not exceeding two years as he may specify.

Ad-hoc Judges:

The appointment of retired judges was provided for in the Constitution under Article 224A.
Under the Article, the Chief Justice of a High Court for any State may at any time, with the previous consent of the President, request any person who has held the office of judge of that court or of any other High Court to sit and act as a judge of the High Court for that State.
Recently, the Supreme Court pushed for the appointment of retired judges to battle the pendency of cases in High Courts.
It orally outlined prospective guidelines for the appointment and functioning of an ad-hoc judge.