Centre issues notification for appointment of six addl judges to Bombay HC

Though the sanctioned strength of the Bombay HC is 94, there are 61 judges (including 43 permenant judges and 18 additional judges) working at present. The appointment of six additional judges will take the strength of presiding judges to 67

Mumbai: The Central government on Thursday issued a notification confirming the appointment of six judicial officers as additional judges of the Bombay high court (HC) a month after the Supreme Court collegium presided over by Chief Justice of India U U Lalit recommended eight names for these posts to the Centre on September 7.

Centre issues notification for appointment of six addl judges to Bombay HC

The notification issued by the Department of Justice in the law ministry named six of the eight judicial officers recommended, including Sanjay Anandrao Deshmukh, Yanshivraj Gopichand Khobragade, Mahendra Wadhumal Chandwani, Abhay Sopanrao Waghwase, Ravindra Madhusudan Joshi and Vrushali Vijay Joshi. They will be additional judges of the Bombay HC, in this order of seniority, for a period of two years. Additional judges are usually appointed for a period of two years before being elevated as permanent judges

Advocates Santosh Govindrao Chapalgaonkar and Milind Manohar Sathe, who were part of the SC collegium’s recommendations, have not been cleared by the Central government as yet.

Though the sanctioned strength of the Bombay HC is 94, there are 61 judges (including 43 permenant judges and 18 additional judges) working at present. The appointment of six additional judges will take the strength of presiding judges to 67.

With the elevation of HC chief justice Dipankar Datta to the Supreme Court, and of justice Prasanna Varale as chief justice of Karnataka high court — the SC collegium recommendations have been made and the notifications of the same are expected — the strength of the Bombay HC will go down to 65.