The Union government has appointed Justice A.K. Singh as Chief Justice of Tripura High Court two months after the recommendation of the Supreme Court collegium. However, the government continues to sit on the recommendations for appointments of Chief Justices to the Calcutta, Himachal Pradesh and Manipur high courts, made in February, and to the Madras High Court, made in September last year.
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TWO months after the Supreme Court Collegium recommended the appointment of Jharkhand High Court’s Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh as the Chief Justice of the Tripura High Court, the Union government on Tuesday issued a notification to this effect.
On February 7, the collegium comprising Chief Justice of India Dr D.Y. Chandrachud and Justices S.K. Kaul and K.M. Joseph had recommended the appointment of Justice Singh as Chief Justice of the Tripura High Court in anticipation of the vacancy consequent to the retirement of then Chief Justice Jaswant Singh on February 22. However, the government had instead gone on to appoint Justice T.A. Goud as Acting Chief Justice of the high court on February 21.
Justice Singh is the senior-most puisne judge at the High Court of Jharkhand. He was appointed to the court on January 24, 2012. He is due to retire on July 6, 2027.
The collegium, while recommending his elevation, had also noted that the state of Jharkhand was unrepresented among the Chief Justices of the high courts.
The government, though, is yet to give effect to the appointment of Bombay High Court judge Justice Dhiraj Singh Thakur as Chief Justice of the Manipur High Court, as recommended by the Supreme Court collegium on February 9; Calcutta High Court Acting Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam as Chief Justice of that high court, recommended by the collegium on February 9; and Acting Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court Justice Sabina as Chief Justice of that high court, also recommended by the collegium on February 7. The Manipur High Court too is currently led by an Acting Chief Justice.
Last month, the government issued notifications appointing the Chief Justices of the Allahabad, Chhattisgarh and Patna high courts.
Meanwhile, the government continues to sit on the collegium’s recommendation to transfer Orissa High Court Chief Justice Dr S. Muralidhar to the Madras High Court as Chief Justice six-and-a-half months after a recommendation to this effect was made by the collegium. The high court has had an Acting Chief Justice since September 22 last year.
On February 3, the Supreme Court, while hearing a contempt petition over delay in appointment of judges, warned the Union government of “unpalatable consequences” if the collegium’s recommendations to transfer high court judges were not given effect in the next ten days. A bench comprising Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Abhay S. Oka had remarked that the transfer of judges is a serious issue, more serious than anything else.
