Consider the following statement regarding the appointment of ad hoc Judge of the Supreme Court. Which of the following is/are correct? A. Ad hoc Judge is to be appointed if the quorum of the Supreme Court judges is insufficient to hold or continue any session of the Court. B. Chief Justice of India is required to consult the Chief Justice of the concerned High Court before appointing a Judge of the said High Court as Ad hoc Judge of the Supreme Court. C. For appointment of ad hoc Judge, prior consent of the President is not mandatory. D. Ad hoc Judge of the Supreme Court while attending the sittings of the Supreme Court enjoys all powers and privileges of a Supreme Court Judge.

• An Ad hoc judge is a Supreme Court judge appointed by a procedure for a specific project or case for a specific period of time.
• When a quorum of permanent judges is required to continue or hold a Supreme Court session, Article 127 of the Indian Constitution proposes that the Chief Justice of India can appoint a High Court judge as an ad hoc Supreme Court judge for a specified time. Hence, statement A is correct.
• The Supreme Court Chief Justice can only do so after consulting with the Chief Justice of the High Court in question and receiving the President's prior consent. Hence, statement B is correct and statement C is not correct.
• The judge chosen for this position must be eligible to sit on the Indian Supreme Court.
• Above all other obligations, it is the judge so designated's responsibility to attend Supreme Court sessions.
• In doing so, the Ad hoc judge in India has all of the power, authority, benefits, and obligations of a Supreme Court judge. Hence, statement D is correct.

Ad hoc Judges' Role

• Cases that are more than five years old are usually assigned to ad hoc judges. Regardless, it would not be inappropriate for the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court to exercise his discretion in hearing such cases.
• It is not necessary to form a divisional bench of Ad hoc Judges and Sitting Judges in cases to be heard before the Division Bench. At the moment, the Division Bench may only be made up of ad hoc judges because these are old cases that need to be heard.
• Because an ad hoc judge's role is to carry out the functions of a Supreme Court Justice, it would be inappropriate for an ad hoc judge to perform any other permitted work.