Govt clears appointments, 6 HCS to get new Chief Justices

NEW DELHI: Nearly a month after the Supreme Court collegium’s recommendations, six high courts in the country are set to get new chief justices after the Union government approved the proposal.

According to people aware of the matter, the government’s nod follows some initial reservations expressed by it against one of the recommendations, causing the month-long delay in processing the appointments. However, with the matter resolved after discussions between the two sides, notifications will be issued appointing the new chief justices in the high courts of Uttarakhand, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gauhati and Telangana, they added.

Four of these high courts — Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Gauhati — currently do not have full-time chief justices and are being headed by acting chiefs.

the government’s approval, Delhi high court’s acting chief justice Vipin Sanghi will be appointed as the chief justice of Uttarakhand high court, while justice Satish Chandra Sharma, chief justice of the Telangana high court, will take over as the Delhi high court’s regular chief.

Two judges of the Bombay high court , justice Amjad A Sayed and justice Sambhaji Shivaji Shinde, will be appointed as chief justices of the high courts of Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan, respectively.

In accordance with the collegium’s recommendations, Gujarat high court judge Rashmin M Chhaya will be elevated as the chief justice of the Gauhati high court, while justice Ujjal Bhuyan of Telangana high court will be elevated as the chief justice of the same high court.

In three of the high courts cited above, appointment was overdue — the post of chief justice was lying vacant in Uttarakhand since December 24, in Rajasthan since March 7, and in Delhi since March 13.

In Himachal Pradesh, justice Mohammad Rafiq demitted the office of the chief justice on May 24, and the vacancy at Gauhati high court arose following the elevation of justice Sudhanshu Dhulia as a judge of the Supreme Court on May 7.

The Supreme Court collegium, headed by Chief Justice of India NV Ramana, on May 17 passed the resolution recommending the appointment of new chief justices in the six high courts. The proposal, however, remained stuck in the Union law ministry for more than three weeks since the government functionaries had reservations relating to one recommendation, people familiar with the matter told HT. “However, after some informal discussions between the two wings, all the recommendations went through and the files are being processed for the presidential ratification and issuance of notifications,” said one of the people cited above. They did not elaborate which of the names caused the delay. Under the memorandum of procedure (MOP), which guides appointments and transfers of judges of the constitutional courts, the government is bound to abide by the collegium’s resolution in the matter of transfer and appointment of chief justices of high courts. However, the MOP does not lay down a timefollowing line for the government to comply and issue the notification.

Justice Sanghi of the Delhi high court, who was recommended to head the Uttarakhand high court, was recently in the news after he called for a report from Delhi Police over vandalism outside the official residence of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. The judge also recently pulled up Twitter for not being sensitive in dealing with blasphemous posts against Hindu deities.

Justice Satish Chandra Sharma, who is slated to take over as the Delhi high court chief justices, belongs to the Madhya Pradesh high court and was appointed as a high court judge in January 2008. Justice Bhuyan recommended as the CJ of Telangana high court, belongs to the Gauhati high court, where he was appointed as a judge in October 2011.

Bombay high court judge Shinde, who was recommended to head the Rajasthan high court, last year heaped praise on Stan

Swamy, a tribal rights activist who died in custody after he was arrested by the National Investigation Agency in the Bhima Koregaon case. Swamy was accused of having links with the Communist Party of India (Maoist), a banned organization.

Following the 84-year-old Jesuit priest’s death on July 5, justice Shinde praised Swamy for the wonderful person he was and the service he rendered to the society. Within a week, justice Shinde withdrew his statements after the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which opposed bail to Swamy, complained to the judge that such observations showed the agency in a bad light.

“Suppose you are hurt that I personally said something, I take those words back,” the judge said while accepting that even judges are human beings who endeavour to be always balanced, but tend to respond when something suddenly happens such as the untimely death of the priest.

CURRENTLY, HIGH COURTS OF DELHI, HIMACHAL, RAJ AND GAUHATI DO NOT HAVE FULL-TIME CHIEF JUSTICES AND ARE BEING HEADED BY ACTING CHIEFS