Supreme Court Collegium clears 8 for elevation as CJs

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 17

The Supreme Court Collegium is learnt to have recommended eight names for appointment as the Chief Justices of the Allahabad, Calcutta, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Telengana, Meghalaya, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh High Courts, said sources.

Led by Chief Justice of India NV Ramana, the three-member Collegium is said to have also recommended the transfer of five Chief Justices and 28 other HC judges. The decisions, expected to be announced soon, were taken during Collegium meetings over the past few days.

Calcutta High Court Acting Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal has been recommended for appointment as Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court.

Justice Prakash Srivastava (MP HC), Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra (Chhattisgarh HC) and Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi (Allahabad HC) have been recommended for appointment as Chief Justices of the Calcutta, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka High Courts, respectively.

Justice Satish Chandra Sharma (Acting CJ of the Karnataka HC), Justice Ranjit V More (Bombay HC), Justice Aravind Kumar (Karnataka HC) and Justice RV Malimath (Karnataka HC) have been recommended for appointment as Chief Justices of the Telangana, Meghalaya, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh High Courts.

Tripura High Court Chief Justice Akil A Kureshi is being shifted to the Rajasthan HC. Owing to differences in the Collegium over the elevation of Justice Kureshi, one of the seniormost HC judges in India, to the SC, no appointment could be made to the top court for almost two years.

Rajasthan HC Chief Justice Indrajit Mohanty is said to have been recommended for transfer to the Tripura HC to replace Justice Kureshi.

The Collegium has also recommended the transfer of Chief Justice Arup Kumar Goswami of the Andhra HC to the Chhattisgarh HC, Chief Justice Mohd Rafiq of the MP HC to the HP HC and Meghalaya HC Chief Justice Biswanath Somadder to the Sikkim HC.

Besides Justice Bindal, the Collegium has recommended the names of Justices Prakash Srivastava, Prashant Kumar Mishra, Ritu Raj Awasthi, Satish Chandra Sharma, Ranjit V More, Aravind Kumar and RV Malimath for appointment as Chief Justice of HCs across the country, the sources said.

Major reshuffle

• CJI had at a BCI event recently said it was his endeavour to address the issue of vacancies on ‘urgent’ basis
• He had also said at the function that he expected 90% of the vacancies to be filled in another month
• In early September, the Collegium had recommended 68 names in one stroke for elevation as judges

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