SC collegium recommends elevation of 13 lawyers as HC judges

The Supreme Court collegium has recommended the names of 13 lawyers for elevation as Punjab and Haryana high court judges

The Supreme Court collegium has recommended the names of 13 lawyers for elevation as Punjab and Haryana high court judges. The high court at present has 46 judges against the sanctioned strength of 85. As many as 18 are set to retire by December 2023.

The Punjab and Haryana high court at present has 46 judges against the sanctioned strength of 85.

The names of those recommended include Punjab and Haryana High Court Bar Association’s former president Harpreet Singh Brar and justice Jawahar Lal Gupta (retd)’s daughter Nidhi Gupta. Others include law officers in Haryana — senior additional advocate general Naresh Singh Shekhawat, and additional advocates general Deepak Manchanda and Kuldeep Tiwari.

Also on the list are Harsh Bunger, Alok Kumar Jain, Sanjay Vashisth, Tribhuvan Dahiya, Namit Kumar, Harkesh Manuja, Aman Chaudhary and taxation lawyer Jagmohan Bansal. The 13 names were recommended by the high court collegium in March 2022.

As per the procedure, the central government considers these names and the President issues the notification for those cleared by the Centre. Due to the Covid-19 outbreak, pending cases have piled up to 4.5 lakh in the high court.