New Delhi, Dec. 19 -- The Supreme Court on Thursday urged the Union government to revisit and fine-tune its policy on appointing ad hoc judges in high courts to tackle mounting pendency, observing that the vast experience and expertise of judges retiring at 62 remains largely untapped. "High court judges retire at 62 when they still have huge talent and expertise. There is massive talent that remains unutilised after retirement," a bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul Pancholi told attorney general R Venkataramani, suggesting that the Centre evolve a more effective mechanism to harness this judicial resource. Emphasising the need for a review, the bench said the ad hoc judges policy "needs to be fine-tuned", echoing concerns flagged earlier by the court while framing guidelines under Article 224A of the Constitution, which permits the appointment of retired high court judges as ad hoc judges. Responding to the court's observations, the AG said that the memorandum of procedure (MoP), which guides appointments and transfers in constitutional courts, already addresses the issue of ad hoc judges but assured the bench that the policy would be examined again to see if changes were required. The court's remarks came as it modified its January 30 order on the manner in which ad hoc judges may function in high courts. Clarifying its position, the bench held that ad hoc judges can sit either as single judges or as part of division benches, including alongside sitting judges, leaving it entirely to the discretion of the chief justice of the high court to decide the composition of such benches and who would preside over them. Dictating the clarification, the bench said that if two ad hoc judges are appointed, the chief justice may constitute a division bench of ad hoc judges. It also left it open for chief justices to pair an ad hoc judge with a sitting judge wherever necessary....