CJI Surya Kant Advocates National Registry for Retired Judges in ADR, Legal Education Roles

(By Syed Ali Taher Abedi)

New Delhi, April 25, 2026: Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant today urged the creation of a structured national registry of retired judges to channel their expertise into alternative dispute resolution (ADR) processes and other post-retirement roles, emphasizing institutionalized engagement over ad hoc volunteerism.

“When a judge retires, we arrange a function. We garland them, we present a shawl, and we speak warmly of decades of distinguished service. Then, we quietly assume that the show will go on as usual even without them. The chamber is vacated. The files are handed over. And we move on. However, that critical assumption is, in my view, among our most wasteful traditions. For the robe may be retired. The judge never is. It is a truth universally known that once a judge, is always a judge. And it is on that unwavering conviction that this National Conference stands”

Speaking at the All India Retired Judges Conference, organized by the Association of Retired Judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts of India chaired by Justice Narendra Kumar Jain and the Rajasthan State Legal Services Authority, CJI Kant outlined four key roles for former judges mediators and arbitrators in commercial and family disputes legal educators in schools, colleges, and gram panchayats to demystify rights in plain language; pre-litigation counsellors and institution-builders mentoring future mediators and legal aid lawyers.

“You carry not merely knowledge of law. Any library can offer that. You carry knowledge of people. Decades of reading human nature across every stratum of society. Like the rural litigant whose entire life savings are bound in a single acre. The family whose fracture runs far deeper than any property dispute can express. The first-generation entrepreneur navigating commercial waters without a chart. You have presided over their most desperate moments.”

“A judge’s retirement from the bench does not signal the end of their judicial purpose,” the CJI asserted, highlighting the “accumulated wisdom” that institutions cannot replicate.

He called for formal Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) between the association and retired judges from the Supreme Court, State Legal Services Authorities, and High Courts nationwide to ensure dignified, accountable participation.

“People trust someone who once wore the robe. That trust, painstakingly earned over years of conscientious service, is a national resource as precious as water in the deep desert. And to allow it to lie unused at the moment of retirement would be not merely an institutional oversight, but a grave public loss.”

The conference theme, “The Bench Beyond Retirement the Role of Retired Judges in Advancement of ADR and Awareness of Laws for Common Masses,” resonated in his address. CJI Kant noted the emotional disorientation many judges face post-retirement as proof their purpose endures, and stressed the trust retired judges inspire among ordinary litigants.

“. I am calling for a formal framework: a structured National Registry of Former Judges willing to serve in ADR and legal awareness capacities; Memoranda of Understanding between this Association, State Legal Services Authorities, and the High Courts”

Challenging conventional labels, he reframed mediation, Lok Adalats, arbitration, and conciliation not as “alternative” mechanisms but as the “only door” to justice for millions of Indians urging a shift from idle wisdom to active societal contribution.

“The purpose has not expired. It has simply lost its address. Today’s Conference is, in part, about giving it a new one”

He emphasized that for millions of citizens, these mechanisms served not as an alternative to the status quo, but as their only point of access to the legal systems