Chief Justices appointed in 4 HCS

CHIEF JUSTICES for High Courts in Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand were appointed on Friday.

Official sources in the Law Ministry said Acting Chief Justice of Patna High Court Hemant Gupta has been appointed Chief Justice of Madhya Pradesh High Court. Acting Chief Justice of Jharkhand High Court P K Mohanty has been appointed the ‘regular’ chief justice there, they said.

Justice Navniti Prasad, a judge in Patna High Court has been appointed Chief Justice of Kerala High Court while Justice T B Radhakrishnan, acting Chief Justiceofkeralahighcourt,hasbeen madechiefjusticeofchhattisgarh High Court, the sources said.

The Indian Express had first reportedinfebruaryaboutthesupreme Court collegium headed by CJI J S Khehar having recommended nine names to the government for taking over as regular High Court chief justices. This was a much-anticipated move to appoint regular chief justices for High Courts instead of having acting chief justices for months.

The Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Reforms had a week ago written to the Supreme Court collegium, seeking an inhouse inquiry against Justice Hemant Gupta over cases of alleged disproportionate assets and misbehaviour against him, a month after the collegium recommended his name for appointment as Madhya Pradesh High Court Chief Justice.