Supreme Court Collegium recommends 6 additional judges of Punjab and Haryana HC to be made permanent

New Delhi, April 18

The Supreme Court Collegium has recommended six additional judges of the Punjab and Haryana High Court be made permanent judges of that court, saying they “are fit and suitable for being appointed as Permanent Judges.”

The decision taken by a three-member Collegium of CJI DY Chandrachud, Justice SK Kaul and Justice KM Joseph on Monday was made public on Tuesday by the Supreme Court which uploaded the Collegium’s resolution on its website.

The additional judges of the Punjab and Haryana High Court recommended to be made permanent judges are: Justice Vikas Bahl, Justice Vikas Suri, Justice Sandeep Moudgil, Justice Vinod Sharma (Bhardwaj), Justice Pankaj Jain, and Justice Jasjit Singh Bedi.

On 19 December last year, the Collegium of the High Court of Punjab and Haryana had unanimously recommended these additional judges for appointment as permanent judges. The recommendation, which has the concurrence of the Chief Ministers and the Governors of the States of Punjab and Haryana, was received from the Department of Justice on April 13, 2023.

In terms of the Memorandum of Procedure, the Supreme Court judges conversant with the functioning of the High Court of Punjab and Haryana were consulted with a view to ascertain the suitability of the above Judges for being appointed as Permanent Judges, the Collegium resolution stated.

The Judgment Evaluation Committee consisting of two judges of the Supreme Court had also cleared them for being made permanent.

“Since the current two-year term of one of the Additional Judge is due to expire on 24 May 2023, the above recommendation may be processed expeditiously,” the Collegium asked the Government.