Chief Justice of India Surya Kant revealed on Thursday that many retired High Court judges do not want to return as ad hoc judges. They feel "embarrassed" to sit as junior judges alongside younger serving judges. This reluctance is slowing efforts to clear a huge backlog of criminal cases in High Courts across India. According to the National Judicial Data Grid, 18,98,833 criminal cases are pending in 25 High Courts. Out of these, 68.27%, or 12,96,374 cases, have been pending for over a year. The High Courts have 1,122 sanctioned judges posts but currently have 298 vacancies. The Supreme Court allowed Chief Justices of High Courts to appoint retired judges as ad hoc judges through Article 224A of the Constitution, starting January 2025. This was meant to reduce the backlog of criminal appeals. However, many High Courts have not sent names of retired judges for these posts, showing a lukewarm response. Chief Justice Kant shared his conversations with various High Court Chief Justices during his visits. While many retired judges want to return, they are uncomfortable sitting as juniors when paired with younger judges on benches. He also highlighted the problem from the serving judges’ side, who may not want to sit under a retired judge heading the Bench. "Can we persuade a sitting judge to be a Bench partner with a retired judge heading the Bench?" he asked. Senior advocate K. Parameshwar noted that judgments require an ad hoc judge to sit with a serving judge, usually in Division Benches. The Attorney General, R. Venkataramani, suggested Chief Justices discuss and find an internal solution to decide how to seat retired and serving judges together. The Supreme Court order clarified that Chief Justices have the discretion to form benches with ad hoc and sitting judges and decide who presides. They also allowed single-judge benches of ad hoc judges. Justice Joymalya Bagchi said the recruitment and tenure of ad hoc judges need "fine-tuning." He pointed out that many experienced judges leave office at 62, which wastes valuable judicial talent. Attorney General Venkataramani promised to review the Memorandum of Procedure for ad hoc judge appointments to suggest improvements. The court’s concern remains firm: clearing the backlog requires better use of retired judges without embarrassment or hesitation from any side.