Appointment of Ad Hoc Judges to the Supreme Court
Official heading: “Appointment of ad hoc Judges”
- Source edition
- The Constitution of India (as on 1 May 2026)
- Source locator
- Part V, Article 127, printed page 60
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1. In One Sentence
Article 127 permits the Chief Justice of India, with presidential consent and after consulting the relevant High Court Chief Justice, to designate a qualified High Court Judge to attend Supreme Court sittings as an ad hoc Judge to maintain quorum.
2. What It Means in Everyday Language
Article 127 provides an emergency mechanism to maintain the judicial quorum of the Supreme Court of India.
If at any time there should not be a quorum of Supreme Court Judges available to hold or continue any session of the Court, the Chief Justice of India may request in writing the attendance of a qualified High Court Judge as an ad hoc Judge.
Two constitutional approvals are required: (1) the previous consent of the President of India; and (2) prior consultation with the Chief Justice of the High Court concerned.
The designated judge must be duly qualified for appointment as a Supreme Court Judge under Article 124(3).
Clause (2) mandates that it shall be the priority duty of the designated High Court judge to attend the Supreme Court, and while so attending, they enjoy all the jurisdiction, powers, privileges, and duties of a Supreme Court Judge.
Note on NJAC Text: While the 99th Amendment substituted text referring to the NJAC, the Supreme Court struck down that amendment in 2015, reviving the Chief Justice's consultative authority.
3. Practical Illustrative Example
Multiple Supreme Court judges recuse themselves from a major conflict-of-interest dispute, leaving insufficient judges to constitute a required five-judge constitutional bench.
4. Important Limits, Qualifications & Exceptions
Article 127 provides temporary judicial reinforcements to prevent quorum failure.
- Quorum maintenance: Activated only when sitting judges are insufficient for court sessions.
- CJI recommendation with presidential consent and High Court Chief Justice consultation.
- Designee must satisfy Article 124(3) Supreme Court qualifications.
- Full powers and privileges of a Supreme Court judge during ad hoc service.
5. Operative Constitutional Text
6. Sources & Historical Assembly Deliberations
Assembly quotations are withheld until wording, dates, and attribution have been checked against the primary record.
- •Government of India (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice) • Part V, Article 127, printed page 60 • Human source-link check pending
Primary PDF accessed and transcribed with AI assistance on 14 October 2026. Formatting and amendment annotation markers are omitted; operative wording is retained. This is not human legal review. Later amendments and commencement notifications have not been comprehensively checked.