Collegium Recommends Four High Court Chief Justices, Nine Judges

One round of decisions on October 26 covered four High Court chief justice posts and nine judge appointments. The Supreme Court Collegium recommended judges for Gujarat, Delhi, Telangana and Uttarakhand, and approved two names for Bombay and seven for Madhya Pradesh. These are recommendations, not completed appointments: the Union Government must issue notices before the changes take effect. ^1,5

The nine judge appointments include Ajay Sharma, a judicial member of the Mumbai-based Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal, and practising advocate Vaibhav Anant Sugdare for Bombay. For Madhya Pradesh, the Collegium approved advocates Dr. Vivek Sharan, Rajesh Kumar Shukla, Kanak Gaharwar, Bhakti Vyas, Shreyas Pandit, Mrinal Elker and Avinash Zargar. It also named Justice Manash Ranjan Pathak for Gujarat, Justice P. Sam Koshy for Delhi, Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty for Telangana and Justice Sudhir Singh for Uttarakhand. ^1,5

The four chief justice recommendations would fill posts or make leadership arrangements permanent across the courts. Pathak is already serving in Gujarat, while Koshy is serving in Telangana; both were recently appointed acting chief justices in other courts, according to the report. Permanent appointments would replace acting arrangements in Gujarat, Delhi and Telangana, while Uttarakhand’s chief justice post would be filled. The Bombay High Court’s working strength would rise to 77 if the government approves its two nominees. The resolutions give no reasons for the Madhya Pradesh selections or details of vacancies there. ^1,2

The changes now depend on the Union Government, which must issue appointment notices before the Collegium’s recommendations take effect. The Collegium’s October 26 resolutions list the names, but do not themselves make the nominees judges or chief justices. Until notices are issued, acting arrangements remain in place where they were already operating, and the recommended elevations have not taken effect. ^1,5