The Supreme Court collegium led by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud on December 13, 2022 recommended the names of five judges for appointment as apex court judges and three for elevation as Chief Justices (CJ) of High Courts (HC).
The five judges recommended to the government for appointment as Supreme Court judges are Rajasthan High Court Chief Justice Pankaj Mithal; Patna High Court Chief Justice Sanjay Karol; Manipur High Court Chief Justice P.V. Sanjay Kumar; Patna High Court judge Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah; and Allahabad High Court judge Justice Manoj Misra.
The collegium proposed the names of Uttarakhand HC judge, Justice Sanjaya Kumar Mishra, as CJ of Jharkhand High Court. The incumbent Chief Justice, Dr. Ravi Ranjan, is retiring on December 19, 2022.
Gauhati HC judge, Justice N Kotiswar Singh, was recommended for elevation as CJ of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court. The incumbent Chief Justice Ali Mohd. Magrey retired on December 7, 2022.
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Kerala HC judge, Justice K Vinod Chandran, was recommended for elevation as CJ of Gauhati High Court. The current Gauhati CJ, Rashmin Manharbhai Chhaya, is retiring in January next year.
The collegium’s resolutions were finalised after a meeting held on December 13.
The collegium met a day after Justice Dipankar Datta was sworn in as the 28th judge of the Supreme Court on December 12. He was the Bombay High Court Chief Justice. His appointment had brought down the vacancies in the apex court from seven to six.
If the government appoints the five judges recommended by the collegium on Tuesday, the vacancies in the apex court will come down to one. The sanctioned judicial strength of the Supreme Court is 34. The past few days had seen mounting tension between the apex court and the government over judicial appointments.
Justice Mithal was appointed Rajasthan CJ only on October 14, 2022. He was born on June 17, 1961. His parent High Court is Allahabad.
Justice Karol was appointed the CJ of the Patna HC on November 11, 2019. His parent HC is Himachal Pradesh. He was born on August 23, 1961.
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Justice Kumar was appointed the CJ of Manipur HC on February 14, 2021. His parent HC is Telangana. He was born on August 14, 1963.
Justice Amanullah was appointed judge of his parent Patna HC on June 20, 2011. He was transferred to Andhra Pradesh High Court in October last year. He was re-transferred back to Patna HC on June 20, 2022. He was born on May 11, 1963.
Justice Misra has been a Permanent Judge of the Allahabad HC since August 2013. He was born on June 2, 1965.
