The Union Ministry of Law and Justice on Friday notified the appointment of Justice S. Vaidyanathan, the seniormost judge of the Madras High Court, as the Chief Justice of the Meghalaya High Court with effect from the date he assumes charge of the office.
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The notification stated that the President had made the appointment pursuant to a recommendation made by the Supreme Court collegium comprising Chief Justice of India Dhananjaya Y. Chandrachud, Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul (since retied) and Justice Sanjiv Khanna on November 2, 2023.
A resolution passed by the collegium stated that Justice Vaidyanathan “is a competent judge with humility, judicial temperament and unimpeachable integrity.”
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It also pointed out he was appointed as a judge of the Madras High Court on October 25, 2013 after 27 years of standing at the Bar and that his areas of practice were labour, service, criminal and company matters. The collegium also took into note his contribution to the judiciary.
The collegium stated he had authored 1,219 reported judgements during his tenure of 10 years as a judge of the High Court and of them, 692 were delivered during the last five years. He had acquired considerable experience in delivering justice in one of the largest High Courts in the country.
“While recommending his name, the collegium has also taken into consideration the fact that the Madras High Court which is one of the largest High Courts in the country, is presently represented by only one Chief Justice (T.S. Sivagnanam of Calcutta High Court) among the Chief Justices of the High Courts,” the resolution read.