The Supreme Court collegium has recommended that the acting Chief Justice of the Madras High Court Rajesh Kumar Agrawal be made its Chief Justice. Justice Agrawal assumed office as acting Chief Justice on February 7 this year.
The seniormost judge of the High Court, Justice R. Banumathi, has been recommended to be appointed as the Chief Justice of the Jharkhand High Court.
Justice N.V. Ramana, acting Chief Justice of Andhra Pradesh High Court, will be the new Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court. At present, there is no judge from the Andhra Pradesh High Court holding the post of Chief Justice in any High Court.
Justice P.C. Pant, seniormost judge of the Uttarakhand High Court, is being elevated as the Chief Justice of the Meghalaya High Court. This is the first time a Uttarakhand High Court judge is occupying the position of Chief Justice.These recommendations received by the Law Ministry are being processed and the appointments will be completed in two-three weeks, according to informed sources.
The collegium, headed by Chief Justice of India P. Sathasivam, has also cleared eight names, six from the Bar — R. Mahadevan, P.N. Prakash, S. Vaidyanathan, K. Kalyanasundaram, V.M. Velumani and Pushpa Satyanarayana — and two from subordinate judiciary for appointment as judges in the Madras High Court. Justice Agrawal (60) became a permanent judge of the Allahabad High Court and he became acting Chief Justice of the Madras High Court on February 7 this year. A direct recruit, Justice Banumathi (58) entered the Tamil Nadu Higher Judicial Service in 1988 as district judge. She has worked as district and sessions judge in Coimbatore and Vellore. Justice Ramana (56), who hails from an agricultural family at Ponnavaram in Krishna district, has functioned as additional standing counsel for the Central government.
