AFTER sitting on his file for months without offering any explanation, the Narendra Modi government has finally started processing the name of the senior-most puisne judge of Punjab and Haryana High Court, Justice Gurmeet Singh Sandhawalia, to be appointed as Chief Justice of Himachal Pradesh High Court.
The Himachal Pradesh High Court has been functioning without a full-time Chief Justice since October 19 following the retirement of the previous Chief Justice Rajiv Shakdher on October 18. The senior-most puisne judge Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan has been officiating as acting Chief Justice in the absence of a regular Chief Justice.
Sources told The Leaflet that Justice Sandhawalia’s file has reached the office of the Prime Minister and his Orders are likely to be issued early next week.
Apart from Justice Sandhawalia, the Union government has also started processing the file of Justice Narendar G., currently a judge of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh and originally from the Karnataka High Court, for appointment as Chief Justice of the Uttarakhand High Court.
The Uttarakhand High Court has also been without a regular Chief Justice since October 11, when the previous Chief Justice, Justice Ritu Bahri, retired. Justice Manoj Kumar Tiwari has been holding charge as acting Chief Justice since then.
Justice Sandhawalia, known for his no-nonsense approach, was first recommended on July 11, 2024, for appointment as Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court.
However, after the government did not clear his name, the Supreme Court Collegium, then headed by the previous Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud, changed its recommendation on September 17 and recommended that he be appointed as Chief Justice of Himachal Pradesh High Court.
However, for the last several months, the government has been sitting on the file without offering any explanation.
It is learnt that there was some disquiet within the Supreme Court Collegium about the manner in which the Union government has been unilaterally sitting on names cleared by the Supreme Court Collegium.