Eleven judges have been appointed to three High Courts.
The fresh appointments — six in the Madras High Court, three in the High Court of Chhattisgarh and two in Punjab and Haryana High Court — come at a time when the government and the judiciary continue to have differences over a key document which guides nomination of judges to the Supreme Court and the 24 High Courts.
Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had recently said that the appointment of judges would continue despite the non-finalisation of the memorandum of procedure.
The Ministry of Law and Justice, in a notification issued on Wednesday, said that the President had appointed V. Bhavani Subbaroyan, A.D. Jagadish Chandira, G.R. Swaminathan, Abdul Quddhose, M. Dhandapani and Daivasigamani Audikesavalu as additional judges for a period of two years in the Madras High Court.
Justice Subbaroyan will be the lone woman judge in the High Court, having a total strength of 75. The Madras High Court will still have 20 vacancies after this latest appointment. Before the announcement, the Punjab and Haryana High Court had the highest vacancies of judges with 39 against the sanctioned posts of 85 while the Chhattisgarh High Court had 11 vacant posts against a sanctioned strength of 22.
