New Delhi, Jan. 30 -- Amid the growing backlog of cases, the Supreme Court on Thursday relaxed the conditions for High Courts to recommend the appointment of retired judges on an ad hoc basis.

CJI Sanjiv Khana, Justice BR Gavai and Justice Surya Kant stated that each High Court may appoint two to five judges, with the total number of appointees not exceeding 10 per cent of the court's total strength.

The ad hoc judges will sit on a bench presided over by a sitting judge of the High Court and decide pending criminal appeals, the CJI-led three-judge Bench clarified.

"We further observe that each HC may appoint ad hoc judges by taking recourse to Article 224A (the Constitution of India) the appointment of judges between two to five in num...