Appointment to the Supreme Court and high courts are done by a collegium of the top court. The stand-off between the government and the Supreme Court collegium over a memorandum of procedure had made things worse for judicial appointments in the higher judiciary.
President Pranab Mukherjee here on Wednesday cleared appointment of five new judges to the Supreme Court, taking its working strength to 28. The maxim strength of judges in the apex court is 31. The President signed their Warrants of Appointment, and the notifications will be issued shortly, sources in the government said. The appointment of judges to high courts and the Supreme Court is hanging for many years.
Four of the new appointees are the chief justices of Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Madras and Kerala High Courts, while the fifth one is Karnataka High Court judge S Abdul Nazeer. There will still be three vacancies remaining. Apart from this, three more judges will be retiring this year, namely Chief Justice JS Khehar, Justice PC Ghose and Justice PC Pant.
The delay in the appointments has been affecting the working of judicial functioning.
Appointment to the Supreme Court and high courts are done by a collegium of the top court. The stand-off between the government and the Supreme Court collegium over a memorandum of procedure had made things worse for judicial appointments in the higher judiciary.
The new appointee Rajasthan High Court Chief Justice Navin Sinha, 60, practised in Patna for 23 years before becoming a judge in the Patna High Court in February 2004. He became the Chief Justice in Rajasthan in May last year. Chhattisgarh High Court Chief Justice Dipak Gupta, 61, practised in Himachal Pradesh and became a judge of the Himachal Pradesh High Court in October 2004, officiating there twice as the Acting Chief Justice.
He moved to Tripura as the Chief Justice in March 2013, and became the Chief Justice of the Chhattisgarh High Court since May last year.
Madras High Court Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, 58, practised in Delhi as a lawyer before being elevated as an additional judge in Delhi High Court in May 2001. He was also the Acting Chief Justice of Delhi High Court briefly in 2012 for three days. He then became the Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in June 2013 and moved in the same capacity to the Madras High Court in July 2014.
Kerala High Court Chief Justice Mohan M Shantanagoudar, 58, hails from Karnataka. He joined the judiciary as an additional judge of the Karnataka High Court in May 2003. He assumed charge of the Kerala High Court as Acting Chief Justice in August 2016 and sworn in a full-fledged Chief Justice on September 22. Justice Abdul Nazeer, 58, enrolled as an advocate in February 1983 and became an additional judge of the Karnataka High Court in May 2003 and permanent judge in September 2004.
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