For Manipur HC and 6 others chief justice recommended by SC

New Delhi: The Supreme Court collegium headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud has recommended the names of seven judges to the Center for appointment as Chief Justices of seven High Courts including Bombay and Gujarat.
A three-judge collegium comprising Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice Sanjiv Khanna made recommendations on Wednesday and its resolutions were uploaded on the Supreme Court’s website.
It has recommended names for appointment as Chief Justices of High Courts of Bombay, Gujarat, Telangana, Kerala, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Manipur.
The Supreme Court’s five-member collegium, which recommends names for appointment of judges to the Supreme Court, on Wednesday recommended the names of Telangana High Court Chief Justice Justice Ujal Bhuyan and his counterpart Justice S Venkatanarayana Bhatti to the Centre. In Kerala, for promotion as Supreme Court Judges.
It has recommended the name of Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya, currently a judge of the Allahabad High Court, for appointment as the Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court.
“The post of Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court has recently become vacant as a result of the retirement of Justice Ramesh D Dhanuka,” the resolution said, adding that “on the appointment of Justice Upadhyaya, Allahabad Court of Justice, which is the largest High Court with a total strength of 160 judges, will have adequate representation among the Chief Justices of the High Courts.
Similarly, the collegium has recommended the name of Justice Sunita Agarwal, currently a judge of the Allahabad High Court, for appointment as the Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court.
It said that a vacancy has arisen in the office of Chief Justice of Gujarat High Court after the retirement of Justice Sonia G Gokani.
On the appointment of Justice Sunita Agarwal, the Allahabad High Court will be the second Chief Justice among the Chief Justices of the High Courts. Also, while considering Justice Sunita Agarwal’s name, the collegium has also taken into account the fact that she will be the only woman Chief Justice of the High Court as currently there are no women Chief Justices of the High Courts. said.
For the Orissa High Court, it said there would be a vacancy in the office of Chief Justice in August 2023 as a result of the retirement of Dr Justice S Muralidhar.
“In view of the above, the collegium has decided to recommend that Justice Subhasis Talapatra be appointed as the Chief Justice of the Orissa High Court consequent upon the retirement of Dr. Justice S Muralidhar,” the resolution said. “While considering his name, the Collegium has taken into account the fact that since its establishment in 2013, the Tripura High Court has not been represented among the Chief Justices of the High Courts till date.
The collegium said that the post of Chief Justice of the Andhra Pradesh High Court fell vacant on May 19, 2023 as a result of the elevation of Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra as a judge of the Supreme Court.
Justice Dhiraj Singh Thakur is proposed to be appointed as Chief Justice of Andhra Pradesh High Court. He was appointed as a judge of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court on 8 March 2013 and is now the senior most judge in his parent High Court. He was transferred, in the interest of better administration of justice, to the Bombay High Court in June 2022 and has been working there ever since,” it said.
It said that the collegium’s recommendation for promotion of Justice Thakur as Chief Justice of Manipur High Court on February 9, 2023 is pending with the government.
“Upon the appointment of Justice Thakur, the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh will be represented among the Chief Justices of the High Courts,” the resolution said. 2023, decides to recommend Justice Dhiraj Singh Thakur for appointment as Chief Justice of Andhra Pradesh High Court.
For the Kerala High Court, the collegium said that a vacancy in the office of Chief Justice of that High Court would arise as a result of the elevation of Justice S. Venkatarayana Bhatti to the Supreme Court in terms of a separate recommendation made by it.
It has recommended the name of Justice Ashish J. Desai, currently holding the office of Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court, as the Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court.
“While recommending his name, the Collegium has taken into account the fact that the Gujarat High Court currently has no representation among the Chief Justices of the High Courts,” the resolution said.
It said that the post of Chief Justice of the High Court for the State of Telangana would arise as a result of the elevation of Justice Ujjal Bhuyan to the Supreme Court as per the separate recommendation of the collegium.
The collegium has recommended the name of Justice Alok Aradhe, currently a Judge of the Karnataka High Court, as the Chief Justice of the Telangana High Court.
It said that the post of Chief Justice of the Manipur High Court had fallen vacant in February 2023 as a result of the elevation of Justice PV Sanjay Kumar as a judge of the Supreme Court.
The collegium has recommended the name of Justice Siddharth Mirdul, currently a judge of the Delhi High Court, for appointment as the Chief Justice of the Manipur High Court.