In a move to the reduce the large number of vacancies in the higher judiciary, President Ram Nath Kovind on Tuesday cleared the appointment of 25 judges in two High Courts.
Issuing separate notifications, the Law Ministry notified the appointment of 19 additional judges in the Allahabad High Court and six in the Calcutta High Court.
Additional judges usually have a term of two years and are elevated to the rank of a permanent judge based on their performance.
The Allahabad High Court, the largest in terms of Bench strength, has an approved strength of 160 judges. But until Tuesday’s appointment, it was functioning with 91 judges.
The Calcutta High Court, India’s oldest, too has a shortage as the court, until now, has been functioning with 31 judges against an approved strength of 72.
These are the first set of fresh appointments to the High Court after Justice Dipak Misra took over as Chief justice of India last month.
More recommendations
Apart from the fresh appointments on Tuesday, the Supreme Court collegium also has to decide on 60 recommendations from 13 High Courts across the country.
These include 36 recommendations for appointment as judges and 25 candidates to be elevated from additional judges to permanent judges.
The collegium also has to take a call on appointing full-time Chief Justices for the High Courts of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, Calcutta, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand and Manipur. They are currently headed by Acting Chief Justices.
