SC Collegium recommends Chief Justices to 5 High Courts

The Supreme Court Collegium has recommended the appointment of Chief Justices to High Courts of Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Guwahati, Calcutta, and Bombay.

The resolution of recommending Chief Justices to five High Courts was passed by the Collegium comprising Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi and Justices Madan B Lokur and Kurian Joseph on October 9.

Justice NH Patil, the senior-most judge and also the acting Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court, has been recommended for the appointment as Chief Justice, the post which has been lying vacant since December 2017.

"It is made clear that the Collegium while making the recommendation is conscious of the fact that Justice N.H. Patil hails from Bombay High Court and is due to retire in April 2019. In this connection, the Collegium has invoked the provision of the Memorandum of Procedure which provides for elevation of a puisne Judge as Chief Justice in his own High Court if he has one year or less to retire," read the resolution.

The Supreme Court Collegium recommended Justice DK Gupta as Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court. Justice Gupta, the senior-most judge of the High Court and present acting Chief Justice, is due to retire in December 2018.

Justice Ramesh Ranganathan, the senior-most judge of the Hyderabad High Court, has been recommended for the appointment to the post of next Chief Justice of the Uttarakhand High Court.

The post of Chief Justice of the Uttarakhand High Court has been lying vacant since the elevation of Justice KM Joseph to the Supreme Court this year.Justice Ranganathan will retire in January 2019.

The apex court Collegium has made the recommendation of Justice Vijai Kumar Bist, the senior-most judge of the Uttarakhand High Court, for the appointment of next Chief Justice of the Sikkim High Court.

Recommending the name of Justice Bist for Sikkim High Court Chief Justice, the Collegium took into consideration the fact that there has been no Chief Justice from the Uttarakhand High Court since the elevation of Justice PC Pant to the Supreme Court in 2014.

For Guwahati High Court, the Supreme Court Collegium has recommended Justice AS Bopanna, the senior judge from the Karnataka High Court.