SC collegium remits several names sent for appointment as judges of Orissa HC

The Supreme Court collegium has remitted as many as six out of the eight names sent to it for appointment as judges of the Orissa High Court, where judicial work has been hit by lawyers' strike since August end.

The apex court collegium, headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and comprising Justices Madan B Lokur and Kurian Joseph, has remitted the names sent to it by the hight court saying that they do not qualify the existing norms.

As per October 31 resolution uploaded on the apex court's website, the collegium has said that recommendation regarding one out of the eight names would be taken up for consideration after some time.

Besides, it has sent back another name for re-consideration by the high court collegium.

The Supreme court collegium also dealt with a proposal for appointment of four judicial officers as judges of the Orissa High Court.

It has said that three out of the four judicial officers "do not qualify the prevailing norms of eligibility" and the proposal deserves to be sent back to the chief justice of the high court for reconsideration by the high court collegium.

It, however, recommended that one out of the four judicial officers was "suitable for elevation for appointment as a judge of the Orissa High Court".

The lawyers in the state are on strike since August 29 demanding the arrest of two police officials for allegedly beating up a lawyer on August 28 here.

The Orissa High Court Bar Association had last week decided to continue the agitation till November 9, the date when the high court there is scheduled to hear petitions on the issue which has arisen out of the August 28 incident.

Besides considering the names for appointment as judges of the Orissa High Court, the Supreme Court collegium has recommended 13 and three names for appointment as judges in the high courts of Allahabad and Uttarakhand respectively.

The collegium has recommended the appointment of Supreme Court Secretary General Ravindra Maithani, a senior judicial officer from Uttarakhand, as a judge of the state high court along with two other senior judicial officers -- Narayan Singh Dhanik and Ramesh Chandra Khulbe.

It also considered 15 names for appointment of judges of the Allahabad High Court.

Out of the 15, the collegium has recommended names of 13 judicial officers after finding them suitable for being appointed as judges of the Allahabad High Court.