Vikram Nath appointed Gujarat HC chief justice

Justice Vikram Nath has been appointed as the chief justice of the Gujarat High Court, the Law Ministry said on Sunday.

The Supreme Court Collegium had recommended the name of Justice Nath for the top post in the Gujarat High Court on August 22 after the government returned its earlier recommendation to appoint him as the Andhra Pradesh High Court's chief justice.

He is at present posted as a judge in the Allahabad High Court.

The collegium's resolution had said that in April, it had recommended that Justice Nath be appointed as the chief justice of the Andhra Pradesh High Court. But the government had flagged the recommendation and returned the file for reconsideration.

"On reconsideration, after taking into consideration all relevant factors, the collegium resolves to recommend that, in supersession of the earlier recommendation, Mr Justice Vikram Nath be appointed as chief justice of Gujarat High Court," the recommendation had said.

On Sunday, the Department of Justice in the Law Ministry issued a notification appointing Justice Nath as the Gujarat High Court chief justice.

The Gujarat High Court has been without a regular chief justice since November last year.

Justice Anant Surendraray Dave was appointed as the acting chief justice of the Gujarat High Court on November 14, 2018.

The SC collegium had also noted that the office of the Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court has been lying vacant for "quite a long time" when it recommended Justice Nath's name for the post.