The Supreme Court Collegium makes recommendations for the appointment of chief justices to the high courts of Kerala, Orissa, Manipur, Andhra Pradesh, Bombay, Telangana and Gujarat. If appointed, as Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court, justice Sunita Agarwal will be the only female chief justice of a high court at present.
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ON Wednesday, the Supreme Court Collegium made recommendations for the appointment of chief justices to the high courts of Kerala, Orissa, Manipur, Andhra Pradesh, Bombay, Telangana and Gujarat.
The decision was taken by the three-judge collegium comprising Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud and Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Sanjiv Khanna.
Kerala High Court
The collegium has recommended the name of the senior-most judge of the Gujarat High Court, Justice Ashish J. Desai, as Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court. A vacancy in the office of the Chief Justice of the High Court of Kerala is likely to arise consequent to the elevation of Justice S. Venkatanarayana Bhatti to the Supreme Court as per a separate recommendation made by the Supreme Court Collegium on Wednesday.
Justice Desai was appointed as a judge of the High Court of Gujarat on November 21, 2011. While recommending his name, the collegium took into consideration the fact that the High Court of Gujarat has no representation among the chief justices of high courts at present.
Orissa High Court
The collegium has recommended the name of Justice Subhasis Talapatra as Chief Justice of the Orissa High Court in anticipation of the retirement of incumbent Chief Justice Dr Justice S. Muralidhar next month.
Justice Talapatra, who hails from Tripura, is the senior-most judge from his parent high court. He was elevated as a judge of the Gauhati High Court on November 15, 2011, and on establishment of a separate high court for Tripura in 2013, he opted for the High Court of Tripura as his parent high court. He has been functioning, on transfer, in the High Court of Orissa since June 10, 2022.
The collegium has stated that while considering his name, it took into consideration the fact that since its inception in 2013, the High Court of Tripura has not had representation among the chief justices of the high courts.
Manipur and Andhra Pradesh high courts
The collegium has recommended the appointment of Delhi High Court’s Justice Siddharth Mridul as Chief Justice of the Manipur High Court. While doing so, it has altered its earlier recommendation to appoint Bombay High Court’s Justice Dhiraj Singh Thakur as Chief Justice of the Manipur High Court.
The recommendation made by the collegium on February 9, 2023, for Justice Thakur’s elevation as Chief Justice of the High Court of Manipur has been pending with the government. Now, the collegium has sought his appointment as Chief Justice of the Andhra Pradesh High Court.
Justice Mridul was appointed as a judge of the High Court of Delhi on March 13, 2008, and has been functioning as the senior-most puisne judge in his parent high court.
Bombay High Court
The collegium has sought the appointment of Allahabad High Court’s Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya as Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court. He was appointed as a judge of the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad on November 21, 2011 and is now a senior puisne judge in his parent high court.
Telangana High Court
Justice Alok Aradhe from the Karnataka High Court was recommended for appointment as Chief Justice of the Telangana High Court. A vacancy in the office of the Chief Justice of the High Court for Telangana is likely to arise consequent to the elevation of the incumbent Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan to the Supreme Court as per a separate recommendation made by the Supreme Court Collegium.
Justice Aradhe was appointed as a judge of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh on December 29, 2009, and is now a senior puisne judge in his parent High Court. He has been functioning on transfer since November 2018 as a judge of the Karnataka High Court.
Gujarat High Court
The collegium has recommended the appointment of Allahabad High Court’s Justice Sunita Agarwal as Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court. She was appointed as a judge of the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad on November 21, 2011, and is now the senior-most puisne judge in her parent high court. She has been functioning at the Allahabad High Court since her elevation.
The collegium stated that while considering the name of Justice Agarwal, it took into consideration the fact that she would be the only woman Chief Justice of a high court as presently there is no woman among the chief justices of the high courts
