Collegium Scores A Few Firsts In Naming New High Court Chief Justices And Supreme Court Judges

It has also recommended the Chief Justice of the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, Justice Nongmeikapam Kotiswar Singh, and the acting Chief Justice of Madras High Court, ACJ Mahadevan, to be appointed as judges of the Supreme Court, according to resolutions passed Thursday.

Mahadeven belongs to a backward caste, while Singh will be the first from Manipur to be a judge of the Supreme Court. 

For the office of the chief justice of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court, which would fall vacant when Singh demits office, the collegium recommended the appointment of Justice Suresh Kumar Kait of the Delhi High Court. Justice Kait, a Dalit, is one of the senior-most judges in the country. He is due to retire on 23 May 2025. 

The collegium also recommended Justice Tashi Rabstan, the senior most puisne Judge of the High Court for Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, to be appointed as the next chief justice of Meghalaya where the incumbent, Justice S Vaidyanathan, is due to retire on 16 August 2024.

Justice Rabstan "would be the first chief justice from the region of Ladakh, which has otherwise little or no representation among the judges of the High Court and no representation at all so far in the office of Chief Justice,” the Collegium said in a statement. 

“There are existing vacancies in the office of Chief Justices in the High  Courts of Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Madras and Kerala and vacancies which are likely to arise in the office of Chief Justices of Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh and Meghalaya,” said the statement of the collegium headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud. Other members of the Collegium include Supreme Court Justices Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai, Surya Kant and Hrishikesh Roy.

While considering the names, the collegium kept "in mind seniority, performance and the need, as far as possible, to provide representation to different High Courts in chief justices," the statement said.   

Justice Manmohan who is currently the acting chief justice of Delhi High Court has been recommended to be appointed as Chief Justice of that court, given his seniority and bearing in mind the memorandum of procedure, it said. Justice Manmohan is due to retire in December 2024.

The collegium recommended the appointment of Justice G S Sandhawalia, who is the senior most puisne Judge of the High Court of Punjab and Haryana, as the next Chief Justice of Madhya Pradesh. 

“The High Court for the States of Punjab and Haryana is one of the largest High Courts in the country. Hence, it would be appropriate to appoint the senior most puisne Judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court as a  Chief Justice,” it said.  

Sandhwalia was appointed a Judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in September 2011.

Justice Nitin Madhukar Jamdar, who is the senior most puisne Judge of the High  Court of Bombay, has been recommended to take charge of the office of Chief Justice of Kerala High Court that is currently lying vacant. 

He was appointed as a Judge of the Bombay High Court in January 2012.

Consequent to the retirement of Chief Justice of Madras High Court, Justice Sanjay V  Gangapurwala, on 23 May 2024, there is a vacancy in that office. 

The collegium has recommended the appointment of Justice K R Shriram to the position. Justice Shriram is the second senior most puisne Judge of the High Court of Bombay. He became a judge in June 2013.

The collegium also recommended the appointment of Justice Rajiv Shakdher of Delhi High Court as the next Chief Justice of Himachal Pradesh. Justice Shakdher is one of the senior-most judges in the country, the statement said, adding he was named a judge in April 2008.

The office of the Chief Justice of Himachal Pradesh has fallen vacant upon the transfer of the incumbent, Justice M S Ramachandra Rao to take over as Chief Justice of the High Court of Jharkhand. Dr Justice Bidyut Ranjan Sarangi, currently Jharkhand's chief justice, is due to retire on 19 July 2024.