THE Supreme Court Collegium on April 08, 2019 recommended the names of five new high court Chief Justices.
Justice Ravindra Bhat of the Delhi High Court has been recommended as Chief Justice of the Rajasthan High Court, Justice P R Ramachandra Menon from the Kerala High Court as the Chief Justice of Chhattisgarh, Allahabad High Court judge Justice Vikram Nath as the Chief Justice of Andhra Pradesh High Court and Justice A S Oka of the Bombay High Court as the Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court.
The Collegium comprises Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, Justices S A Bobde and N V Ramana.
“Mr. Justice S Ravindra Bhat is the senior-most Judge from Delhi High Court and is functioning in that High Court since his elevation. Having regard to all relevant factors, the Collegium finds Mr. Justice S Ravindra Bhat suitable in all respects for being appointed as Chief Justice of the Rajasthan High Court. The Collegium resolves to recommend accordingly”, the Collegium resolution said.
Read the Notification.
With regard to Justice Menon, the Collegium said, “Justice P.R. Ramachandra Menon is the senior-most Judge from Kerala High Court and has been functioning there since his elevation as Judge of that High Court. Having regard to all relevant factors, the Collegium finds Mr. Justice P R Ramachandra Menon suitable in all respects for being appointed as Chief Justice of the Chhattisgarh High Court. The Collegium resolves to recommend accordingly.”
Read the Notification.
The Collegium also observed that it was conscious of the fact there would be two Chief Justices from the Kerala High Court.
About Punjab & Haryana High Court judge, Justice A K Mittal, who has been recommended for the Chief Justice of the Meghalaya High Court, the Collegium while making the recommendation said it was conscious of the fact that with this recommendation there would be two Chief Justices from the Punjab & Haryana High Court, which served two states and was the third largest high court in the country, with a sanctioned strength of 85 Judges.
Read the Notification.
The Collegium said the recommendation of Justice Vikram Nath meant that there would three Chief Justices from the Allahabad High Court, which is the largest High Court in the country with the sanctioned strength of 160 Judges.
“Mr. Justice Vikram Nath is the senior-most Judge from Allahabad High Court and is functioning in that High Court since his elevation. Having regard to all relevant factors, the Collegium finds Mr. Justice Vikram Nath suitable in all respects for being appointed as Chief Justice of the Andhra Pradesh High Court,” the Collegium said.
Read the Notification.
Similarly, with regard to the recommendation of Justice A S Oka, from the country’s second largest high court, the Bombay High Court as Chief Justice of Karnataka, the Collegium said while finding him suitable, it was also conscious of the fact that there would be two Chief Justices from “the second largest High Court in the country with sanctioned strength of 94 Judges”.
Leave a Reply