SC Collegium comes out with slew of recommendations; Justice Muralidhar as CJ of Orissa HC, Andhra HC CJ transferred to Sikkim

The Supreme Court Collegium in its meeting held on December 14 has recommended the appointment of four new high court Chief Justices (CJs), the transfer of four Chief Justices to different high courts and the transfer of five high court judges.

Justice S.Muralidhar, who is presently a judge in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, has been recommended as Chief Justice of the Orissa High Court.

The senior-most judge of the Delhi High Court, Justice Hima Kohli, has been recommended to be appointed as Chief Justice of Telangana High Court.

Both Justices Murdlidhar and Kohli hail from the Delhi High Court.

Justice Sanjib Banerjee, the judge, Calcutta High Court has been recommended as the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court, while Allahabad High Court judge Pankaj Mithal recommended for appointment as CJ of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court.

Uttarakhand High Court judge Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia recommended as Chief Justice, Gauhati High Court.

Transfer of Chief Justices and judges

The Collegium also recommended the transfer of the CJ of Telangana High Court to Uttarakhand.

Controversial Andhra Pradesh High Court's CJ J.K. Maheshwari, against who the state's Chief Minister had made certain allegations, has been recommended for transfer to the Sikkim High Court, while Sikkim HC judge Justice A.K. Goswami has been recommended for a transfer to Andhra Pradesh.

Mohammad Rafiq, the CJ of Orissa High Court, has been recommended to be sent to Madhya Pradesh HC.

Madhya Pradesh HC judge Sanjay Yadav, J&K HC judge Rajesh Bindal, Madras HC judge Vineet Kothari, Calcutta HC judge Joymalya Bagchi, and MP HC judge Satish Chandra Sharma have been recommended to be transferred to Allahabad, Calcutta, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka HC respectively.