Supreme Court Collegium clears 5 ex-judges in ad hoc role for Allahabad High Court

Though Article 224A of the Constitution permits appointment of retired judges as ad hoc judges to tackle pendency etc, the provision has been invoked rarely.

2 min readNew DelhiFeb 4, 2026 04:41 AM IST

SC Collegium clears 5 ex-judges in ad hoc role for Allahabad HC

Article 224A deals with the appointment of retired judges at sittings of high courts.

The Supreme Court Collegium on Tuesday approved the appointment of five former judges as ad hoc judges in the Allahabad High Court.

Though Article 224A of the Constitution permits appointment of retired judges as ad hoc judges to tackle pendency etc, the provision has been invoked rarely.

An official statement said, “The Supreme Court Collegium in its meeting held on 3rd February, 2026 has approved the proposal for appointment of five retired judges as ad hoc judges of the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad in terms of Article 224A of the Constitution of India, for a period of two years.”

Those approved are Justices Mohd Faiz Alam Khan, Mohd Aslam, Syed Aftab Husain Rizvi, Renu Agarwal and Jyotsna Sharma. Sources said the high court had forwarded the names – which were then approved by the SC Collegium.

They said the Chief Justice of India had requested high court chief justices to recommend names for appointment as ad hoc judges.

Article 224A deals with the appointment of retired judges at sittings of high courts. It says that “notwithstanding anything in this chapter, 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 a judge of that court or of any other High Court to sit and act as a judge of the High Court for that state, and every such person so requested shall, while so sitting and acting, be entitled to such allowances as the President may by order determine and have all the jurisdiction, powers and privileges of, but shall not otherwise be deemed to be, a judge of that High Court”.

In April 2021, the Supreme Court had issued directions allowing the appointment of ad- hoc judges under Article 224A of the Constitution “to deal with the unprecedented situation arising from the backlog of cases pending in the high courts.”