The Supreme Court collegium has cleared the elevation of the Chief Justices of the Andhra Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh High Courts, Pinaki Chandra Ghose and Kurien Joseph, as Supreme Court judges.
Sources in the Union Law Ministry said the recommendations from the collegium, headed by Chief Justice of India Altamas Kabir, would be processed and forwarded to the Prime Minister’s Office and later to Rashtrapati Bhavan. This exercise would be completed in 3-4 weeks.
Justice Ghose, 60, who hails from West Bengal, became judge of the Calcutta High Court in July 1997 and he was appointed Chief Justice of the Andhra Pradesh High Court in December 2012. He will have tenure of about five years in the Supreme Court.
Justice Joseph, 59, from Kerala, became judge in July 2000. He was appointed Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court in February 2010. His tenure in the Supreme Court will be for five years and nine months.
With these appointments, its strength will go up to 28.
Meanwhile, the President has cleared the appointment of Justice S. Nagappan of the Madras High Court as Chief Justice of the Orissa High Court, according to the sources.
