The Supreme Court has reiterated that the time served by a judicial officer as an ad-hoc judge shall not be considered for determining the seniority and, later on their elevation to High Court.
A bench comprising Justice Ajay Rastogi and Justice Bela M Trivedi noted that the Supreme Court has settled the matter in its earlier decision.
The Supreme Court had held that the benefit of seniority from the date of their initial appointment as ad hoc judges cannot be claimed by the judicial officers.
The Supreme Court also observed that that service as ad hoc judges would only be considered for the purpose of pensionary and other retiral benefits.
Justices Rastogi and Trivedi dismissed a plea by nine judicial officers who were aggrieved by the non-consideration of their service as ad-hoc judges in deciding on elevations of judges to the Andhra Pradesh High Court.
The judicial officers (petitioners) had been appointed initially as ad-hoc Judges for Fast Track Trial Courts in 2003. They were appointed as regular Judges in 2013.
They moved the Supreme Court for relief after the High Court Collegium did not consider them for elevation to the High Court as they had not completed ten years of regular judicial service, as required under Article 217 (2) (a) of the Constitution.