The Supreme Court collegium on Tuesday tweaked its July 11 resolution relating to the appointment of the chief justices for the high courts of Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
On July 11, the apex court collegium, comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and justices Sanjiv Khanna and BR Gavai, had recommended names for the appointment of chief justices for seven high courts namely Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Madras and Meghalaya.
The July 11 recommendations are still pending with the government and in the meantime, the collegium decided to tweak its recommendations with regard to appointment of Justice Suresh Kumar Kait, Justice G S Sandhawalia and Justice Tashi Rabstan.
Justice Kait, a senior judge of the Delhi High Court, was earlier recommended for the appointment as the chief justice of the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court.
“The Collegium, therefore, in supersession of its earlier recommendation made on 11 July 2024, recommends that Mr Justice Suresh Kumar Kait be appointed as Chief Justice of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh,” the recommendation, uploaded on the apex court website, said.
Justice Sandhawalia was earlier recommended for appointment as the chief justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court.
“Mr Justice G S Sandhawalia is the seniormost puisne Judge of the High Court of Punjab and Haryana. He was appointed as a Judge of that High Court on September 30, 2011. The Collegium, therefore, in supersession of its earlier recommendation made on 11 July 2024, recommends that Mr Justice G S Sandhawalia be appointed as the Chief Justice of the High Court of Himachal Pradesh on the retirement of Mr Justice Rajiv Shakdher on 18 October 2024,” the resolution said.
The collegium had earlier recommended the name of Justice Tashi Rabstan for appointment as Chief Justice of the High Court of Meghalaya on the retirement of chief justice S Vaidyanathan.
“The Collegium, therefore, in supersession of its earlier recommendation made on 11 July 2024, recommends that Mr Justice Tashi Rabstan be appointed as Chief Justice of the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh,” the September 17 resolution said.
The collegium said the present resolution will not affect the recommendations made on July 11 with regard to “Justice Manmohan, Justice Rajiv Shakdher, Justice Nitin Madhukar Jamdar and Justice K R Shriram”.
Justice Manmohan, who is the acting Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court, was recommended as the chief justice of the same court.
“He was appointed as a Judge of the High Court of Delhi on March 13, 2008, and is due to retire on December 16, 2024. Justice Manmohan ranks at Sl No 3 in the All India Seniority list of High Court Judges.
“Bearing in mind the Memorandum of Procedure, Mr Justice Manmohan can be appointed as the Chief Justice of his parent High Court, at this stage. The Collegium, therefore, recommends that Mr Justice Manmohan be appointed as Chief Justice of the High Court of Delhi,” a resolution passed by the collegium had said.
The collegiums had recommended the name of Justice Rajiv Shakdher for appointment as the chief justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court.
The name of Justice Nitin Madhukar Jamdar was recommended as the chief justice of the Kerala High Court.
The collegium had noted that there is a vacancy in the office of the chief justice of the Madras High Court after the retirement of Justice Sanjay V Gangapurwala on May 23, 2024, and recommended name of Justice K R Shriram as its chief justice.
“Justice K R Shriram is the second senior-most puisne Judge of the High Court of Bombay. He was appointed on June 21, 2013. Bearing in mind that Mr Justice K R Shriram is a senior Judge of the High Court of Bombay with experience on the judicial and administrative side, the Collegium recommends his appointment as Chief Justice of the High Court of Madras,” it had said.
Recently, the Centre had told the Supreme Court that “sensitive material” with the government is delaying the implementation of the SC Collegium’s recommendations for appointments of chief justices to high courts.
Attorney General R Venkatramani had told a bench headed by the CJI that he received certain inputs from the Union government which are sensitive in nature. (PTI)
