Punjab and Haryana High Court collegium recommends 9 judicial officers for elevation

Saurabh Malik

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Chandigarh, April 23

After a gap of more than three years, the Punjab and Haryana High Court collegium is believed to have recommended the names of nine judicial officers for elevation as judges. While five judicial officers are believed to be from Punjab, the rest are from Haryana.

On March 14, 2019, the collegium had recommended the names of seven judicial officers for elevation as High Court Judges.

High pendency

15 HC judges retiring in two years, including 4 this yr

4.49Lpending cases in HC as of now

1.64L criminal matters pending

The nine names are in addition to 13 advocates recommended for elevation as High Court Judges. Their names were sent after a gap of more than one-and-a-half years. The recommendation comes at a time when the High Court is staring at a crisis, with 15 of its Judges retiring in two years, including four this year.

It is believed that the file containing the names has been forwarded to the Governors of the two states. But the process may take time for completion. A testimony to this effect is provided by the fact that five advocates recommended for elevation in August 2020 were administered oath as High Court Judges only in October last year.

The process of appointing judges is lengthy and time-consuming. Once cleared by the states and the Governors after recommendation by the HC collegium, the file containing the names with Intelligence Bureau reports is placed before the Supreme Court collegium when it meets. The names cleared for elevation are then sent to the Union Law Ministry before their warrants of appointment are signed by the President. The entire exercise can take several months, if not taken up on priority.