Centre clears appointment of 7 High Court Chief Justices

More than two months after the Supreme Court Collegium, led by CJI DY Chandrachud, had recommended names for the appointment of Chief Justices to high courts of Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Madras and Meghalaya, the Centre on Saturday notified the appointments. Union Minister for Law and Justice (Independent Charge) Arjun Ram Meghwal took to X to announce the appointments.

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In separate notifications, the Department of Justice said Justice Manmohan — currently the Acting Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court — has been appointed Chief Justice of the same HC while Justice Rajiv Shakdher of the Delhi HC will be the new Chief Justice of the HP High Court.

Himachal Pradesh High Court Chief Justice MS Ramachandran Rao has been transferred to the Jharkhand High Court. Justice Suresh Kait of the Delhi High Court has been appointed Chief Justice of the MP High Court while Justice Indra Prasanna Mukerji of the Calcutta HC will be the new Chief Justice of the Meghalaya High Court.

Similarly, Justices Nitin Madhukar Jamdar and Shriram Kalpathi Rajendran of the Bombay High Court have been appointed Chief Justices of the Kerala and Madras high courts, respectively, while Justice Tashi Rabstan — Acting Chief Justice of J&K and Ladakh High Court — will be the new Chief Justice of the same high court.

The notifications came a day after a Bench led by the CJI on Friday asked the Centre to explain the delay and provide information on the names recommended and reiterated for appointment by the Collegium. “You tell us the reasons why those appointments have not been made. Which are the matters reiterated and why are those pending?” it had told Attorney General R Venkataramani.

“The Supreme Court Collegium is not a search committee whose recommendations can be stalled,” the Bench had asserted. The Bench had, however, at the request of Venkataramani deferred the hearing on the issue of judicial appointments to next week, saying some of the appointments of high court Chief Justices were likely to be cleared soon.

“If you can please make a list of the names reiterated and why it is pending and at what level it is pending... Show us why it is pending,” the CJI had told the Attorney General who said, “There are several reasons why such names are pending and we have no hesitation in disclosing the facts to the Bench.”

In supersession of its July 11 resolution, the Supreme Court, on September 17, recommended Justices GS Sandhawalia, Tashi Rabstan and Suresh Kumar Kait to be appointed as Chief Justices of high courts of HP, J&K and Ladakh and Madhya Pradesh, days after the Centre said certain “sensitive information” available with it was delaying forward movement on the Collegium’s recommendation for appointments at high courts of Delhi, HP, J&K and Ladakh, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Madras and Meghalaya.

Since Justice Shakdher is due to retire on October 18, the Collegium, in supersession of its earlier recommendation dated July 11, had, on September 17, recommended that Justice GS Sandhawalia — the senior-most puisne judge of the High Court of Punjab and Haryana — be appointed Chief Justice of the HP High Court on the retirement of Justice Shakdher.

Justice Rabstan new CJ of J&K and Ladakh HC

• Justice Suresh Kait has been appointed Chief Justice of the MP High Court, while Justice Indra Prasanna Mukerji will be the new CJ of the Meghalaya High Court.
• Justices Nitin Madhukar Jamdar and Shriram Kalpathi Rajendran have been appointed Chief Justices of the Kerala and Madras HCs, respectively, while Justice Tashi Rabstan — Acting Chief Justice of J&K and Ladakh High Court — will be the new CJ of the same high court.