- (1.) The intent of our order today is to activate a dormant provision of the Constitution of India - Article 224A - for the appointment of ad hoc Judges to deal with the unprecedented situation arising from the backlog of cases pending in the High Courts, which has now crossed the figure of 57 lakh coupled with the consistent ratio of vacancies of almost 40 per cent. Any Constitution has to be dynamic, and thus, even if the intent behind including the provision (as it appears from the Constituent Assembly Debates) was slightly different, nothing prevents it from being utilised to subserve an endeavour to solve an existing problem. For as it is always said, 'change is the only constant'.
(2.) India was fortunate to have some of the best minds work on the framing of our Constitution as members of our Constituent Assembly. The Indian Constitution is an elaborate one, taking cues from the experience of various democracies. One of the essential aspects of our Constitution has been the separation of powers between the Judiciary, Executive, and Legislature.
(3.) Chapter V of Part VI of the Constitution of India commencing from Article 214 upto Article 231 relates to the High Courts in the states. Article 217 provides for the appointment and conditions of the office of a Judge of the High Court, wherein the current age of retirement is 62 years. We may say that broadly, it is amongst the youngest ages of retirement of judges of the apex Court of a state in comparison with other democracies of the world.;