The Supreme Court Collegium, led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) N.V. Ramana, has approved the names of 10 additional judges of the Karnataka High Court and two from the Kerala High Court for appointment as permanent judges of these courts.
Elevation to the High Court Bench is followed by a period of work as an additional judge before the Collegium recommends for permanent judgeship.
The Collegium recommendations were made on September 7, close behind August 24 and September 1 recommendations of a whopping 68 names for appointments to 12 High Courts. Last few weeks had begun on a historic note with the Collegium recommending nine judges to the Supreme Court in one go. One of these judges, Justice B.V. Nagarathna, is poised to be India's first woman CJI in 2027.
The Collegium is pushing hard to fill up vacancies. There is likely to be a steady of recommendation of names for filling vacancies in the 25 High Courts, which have over 465 vacancies. This is over 41% of the total sanctioned judicial strength of 1098 in the High Courts.
CJI’s message to govt
Chief Justice Ramana recently told Law Minister Kiren Rijijiu, when they met, that his first priority was to fill the vacancies. The CJI has given hope by saying that the Collegium would be working to fill 90% of the vacancies in the High Courts in a month. To achieve this objective and to ensure access to justice for all,he has sent a clear message to the government to not sit on the Collegium recommendations.
The additional judges recommended for permanent judgeships in the Karnataka High Court are Justices Maralur Indrakumar Arun, Engalaguppe Seetharamaiah Indiresh, Ravi Venkappa Hosmani, Savanur Vishwajith Shetty, Shivashankar Amarannavar, M. Ganeshaiah Uma, Vedavyasachar Srishananda, Hanchate Sanjeevkumar, Padmaraj Nemachandra Desai, and Justice P. Krishna Bhat. Justice Bhat’s elevation to the High Court as additional judge had finally come through in 2020 after years of deadlock between the judiciary and the government. The Collegium first recommended his name in 2016.
The Collegium has also recommended the appointment of additional judges of the Kerala High Court Justices M.R. Anitha and K. Nair Haripal as permanent judges.
