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Centre notifies appointment of six HC chief justices
The government on Sunday notified appointments of new chief justices for six high courts in the country, over a month after recommendations were made by the Supreme Court’s collegium.
The government on Sunday notified appointments of new chief justices for six high courts in the country, over a month after recommendations were made by the Supreme Court’s collegium.
The month-long delay in the appointments was due to the government’s initial reservations against one of the recommendations, HT reported first on June 17.
After the matter was resolved following discussions, the approval came through around a week ago, followed by notifications on Sunday, appointing new chief justices in the high courts of Uttarakhand, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gauhati and Telangana.
Four of these high courts – Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Gauhati – currently do not have full-time chief justices and are being headed by acting chiefs.
Following the government’s approval, Delhi high court’s acting chief justice Vipin Sanghi will be appointed as chief justice of Uttarakhand high court, while Satish Chandra Sharma, chief justice of the Telangana high court, will take over as Delhi high court’s regular chief.
Two judges of Bombay high court, justices Amjad A Sayed and Sambhaji Shivaji Shinde, will be appointed as chief justices of the high courts of Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan, respectively.
Gujarat high court judge Rashmin M Chhaya will be elevated as the chief justice of the Gauhati high court, while justice Ujjal Bhuyan of Telangana high court will be elevated as the chief justice of the same court.
In three of the high courts, appointments were overdue. The posts of chief justice were lying vacant in Uttarakhand since December 24, in Rajasthan since March 7, and in Delhi since March 13.
In Himachal Pradesh, Mohammad Rafiq demitted the office of chief justice on May 24, and the vacancy at Gauhati high court arose following the elevation of justice Sudhanshu Dhulia as a Supreme Court judge on May 7. Justice Dhulia took oath as judge of the top court on May 9.
The Supreme Court collegium, headed by Chief Justice of India NV Ramana, on May 17 passed the resolution recommending the appointment of new chief justices in the six high courts.
Owing to the government’s reservations over one name, the proposal remained stuck in the law ministry for more than three weeks, people aware of the matter told HT.
Justice Sanghi of Delhi high court, who was recommended to head the Uttarakhand high court, was recently in the news after he called for a report from Delhi Police over vandalism outside the official residence of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. The judge also recently pulled up Twitter for not being sensitive in dealing with blasphemous posts against Hindu deities.
Justice Sharma, who is slated to take over as Delhi high court chief justice, belongs to the Madhya Pradesh high court and was appointed as a high court judge in January 2008. Justice Bhuyan, recommended as chief justice of Telangana high court, belongs to Gauhati high court, where he was appointed as a judge in October 2011.
Bombay high court judge Shinde, who was recommended to head the Rajasthan high court, last year heaped praise on Stan Swamy, a tribal rights activist who died in custody after he was arrested by the National Investigation Agency in the Bhima Koregaon case. Swamy was accused of having links with the Communist Party of India (Maoist), a banned organisation.
Following the 84-year-old Jesuit priest’s death on July 5, justice Shinde praised Swamy for the wonderful person he was and the service he rendered to the society. Within a week, he withdrew his statements after the federal agency, which opposed bail to Swamy, complained to the judge that such observations showed the agency in a bad light.
“Suppose you are hurt that I personally said something, I take those words back,” the judge said while accepting that even judges are human beings who endeavour to always be balanced, but tend to respond when something suddenly happens such as the untimely death of the priest.
