Hc Judges

SC collegium names 3 judges for elevation as chief justices of high courts

The Supreme Court collegium on Thursday recommended to the Centre names of three judges for elevation as chief justices of different high courts. The three-judges collegium comprising Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justices Surya Kant and Vikram Nath took the decision in a meeting on Thursday. The collegium recommended names of Karnataka High Court's Justice Pavankumar B Bajanthri as Chief Justice of Patna HC (at present acting CJ of Patna HC), Calcutta High Court's Justice Soumen Sen as Chief Justice of Meghalaya, and Madras High Court's Justice M Sunder as Chief Justice of Manipur High Court, (consequent upon retirement of the incumbent Chief Justice on September 14, 2025).

SC questions Justice Varma's conduct in cash row, reserves order on plea

The Supreme Court told Justice Yashwant Varma on Wednesday that his conduct did not inspire confidence and asked why he chose to move the apex court after an in-house committee found him guilty of misconduct in the cash discovery row. The top court was hearing Justice Varma's plea seeking invalidation of a report by an in-house inquiry panel which found him guilty of misconduct in the cash discovery matter. The in-house inquiry panel report indicted Justice Varma over the discovery of a huge cache of burnt cash from his official residence during his tenure as a Delhi High Court judge. The plea does not reveal Justice Varma's identity and is titled, "XXX v. The Union of India". Posing sharp questions to the judge, the top court asked Justice Varma why he appeared before the in-house inquiry committee and did not challenge it then and there. It told Justice Varma that he should have come earlier to the apex court against the in-house inquiry panel's report. A bench of Justices Dipan

HC collegiums yet to send names for 193 judge vacancies, says govt in RS

A total of 371 posts of judges are vacant in various high courts across the country and high court collegiums have not sent any recommendation yet for more than 50 per cent of these vacancies, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Thursday. The government lamented that while the high courts are required to make recommendations at least six months before the occurrence of a vacancy, this time limit is "rarely observed". In a written reply to a question by Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge, Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said that as on July 18, against the sanctioned strength of 1,122 judges, 751 are working. As many as 371 posts of judges are vacant in various high courts and against these vacancies, 178 proposals for appointment are at various stages of processing between the government and the Supreme Court Collegium, Meghwal said. The recommendations against 193 vacancies are yet to be received from the high court collegiums, the minister said. According to the memorandum o

Man joins virtual court from toilet; Gujarat HC orders community service

The High Court remarked that the man dragged the sanctity court to the toilet during the hearing

RS Secretariat verifies 44 MPs' signatures to remove HC Judge Yadav

The Rajya Sabha secretariat has verified the signatures of 44 of the 55 MPs who had signed a notice to bring a motion for the removal of Allahabad High Court Judge Shekhar Yadav over his "hate speech" even as Kapil Sibal and nine others were yet to verify their signatures. Sibal, who has been vocal for early action on the notice, has claimed that he has not received any email from the Rajya Sabha secretariat, which confirmed having sent the same to his official email thrice during the past six months. He has questioned the need for verification of signatures and the delay in initiating the process in March when the notice was submitted on December 13, 2024. While 55 MPs have signed the notice for the removal of Justice Yadav, the signature of one of the MPs, Sarfaraz Ahmed, appears twice on the notice. The Rajya Sabha Secretariat is verifying how his signature appeared twice on the notice and whether they are forged. Ahmed, the JMM MP from Jharkhand, has already met Rajya Sabha ...

Parl panel asks why no FIR lodged over cash found at Justice Varma's house

Several MPs at a Parliamentary panel meeting on Tuesday asked why no FIR has been lodged over the recovery of unaccounted cash from a high court judge's residence here and told the Department of Justice to prepare a detailed note on the matter, sources said. The MPs also demanded a code of conduct for judges, and justices in the higher judiciary should not take up government assignments till a period of five years post-retirement, they said. During a meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice, MPs of various parties raised the issue and posed several questions to the Ministry of Law and Justice on what it was doing in the matters raised concerning the judiciary. Sources said the secretary in the Department of Justice, who made a presentation on 'Judicial processes and their reform' concerning issues of Code of Conduct for the judges of higher judiciary and taking up post-retirement assignments by judges", was asked to prepare a ...

Cash discovery row: Three-member panel seeks Justice Varma's impeachment

The three-member panel also examined the role of Diya Varma, daughter of Justice Varma and his private secretary Rajinder Karki, who allegedly told firefighters not to mention the cash

SC raps HC judges over delays, 'coffee breaks'; seeks performance audit

The Supreme Court has observed that the efficiency of High Court judges must be addressed, highlighting the need for performance audits and timely delivery of reserved judgments

Of 221 HC judge recommendations since Nov 2022, 29 await Centre's nod

In a first of its kind move towards enhancing transparency, the Supreme Court has declared the names of judges recommended by the collegium, their relations to sitting or retired judges of high courts or the apex court and the number of resolutions confirmed by the government. According to the data released by the Supreme Court from November 9, 2022 to November 10, 2024 -- a time when former Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud was at the helm of affairs -- of the 303 candidates approved by the Supreme Court collegium for appointment as high court judges, 170 have been cleared by the central government. The data shows 17 names are still pending with the government for approval. Out of the 303 names recommended, 12 were related to former or retired judges of the high court or the Supreme Court and one name who had relations with the retired or serving member of the high court or the apex court, was not cleared by the Centre. Seven of the 303 names belonged to the Scheduled Caste ..

3 Kerala HC judges, families narrowly escape Pahalgam terror attack

Three Kerala High Court judges and their families escaped unhurt after leaving Pahalgam just hours before a deadly terror attack that claimed 26 lives and injured many

Govt notifies transfer of Yashwant Varma to Allahabad HC amid cash scandal

The controversy erupted days after a fire at Justice Varma's residence led to the discovery of large sums of cash

SC refuses urgent hearing on plea seeking FIR over cash at HC judge's home

The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused an urgent mentioning of a plea seeking a direction to Delhi Police to lodge an FIR over the alleged discovery of semi-burnt stash of cash from the official residence of Delhi High Court judge Yashwant Varma. A bench headed by Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna was urged by lawyer Mathews J Nedumpara that the plea be listed for urgent hearing before a bench as it pertained to larger public interest. The CJI, who has stopped the practice of oral mentioning of cases for urgent listing, said that the plea would come up. The lawyer said that the apex court has done a "commendable job" but an FIR was needed. "Don't make public statements," the CJI said. A woman and co-petitioner in the matter said that if such a case was against a common citizen then several probe agencies, like CBI and ED, would have been after that person. "This is quite enough. The plea will come up accordingly," the CJI said. A plea was filed by Nedumpara and three others on Sunday

SC asks HCs to form panel over judges pay commission recommendations

The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked all high courts to expedite setting up a two-judge panel to address grievances of district judicial officers on the implementation of the Second National Judges Pay Commission recommendations. A bench comprising Justices B R Gavai, Augustine George Masih and K Vinod Chandran passed the order after senior advocate K Paremeshwar, who is assisting it as an amicus curiae, said many high courts were yet to form the Committees for Service Conditions of the District Judiciary (CSCDJ) as directed by it earlier. The top court, on January 4 last year, said it recommended setting up the two-judge panel in all high courts to ensure that the orders on pay, pension and other retiral benefits for judicial officers as per the Second National Judicial Pay Commission (SNJPC) were implemented. On Tuesday, the amicus said while some high courts had set up the panels, they did not meet regularly to deal with the grievances, prompting several judicial officers to move t

Delhi HC calls for X-category security for 300 judges amid safety breaches

X-category security involves two armed police officers, but does not include commandos, making it the lowest level of security in this system

Govt forwards parliamentary panel's report to SC, HCs on judges' vacation

The government has forwarded recommendations of a parliamentary committee on staggered vacation for judges to the secretary general of the Supreme Court and registrars general of 25 high court for "appropriate consideration". In a written reply in Lok Sabha on Friday, Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said the standing committee on law and personnel had referred to the suggestion of former chief justice of India R M Lodha that instead of all judges going on vacations, all at one time, individual judges should take their leave at different times of the year so that the courts are constantly open and they are always present to hear cases. The committee was of the opinion that Justice Lodha's suggestion on court vacations should be considered by the Judiciary. "Accordingly, the recommendation of the Rajya Sabha DRPSC (department-related standing committee) in respect of the aforementioned subject was forwarded by the government to the Secretary General, Supreme Court and all Registrars

Delhi riots: Judge recuses from hearing bail pleas of Sharjeel Imam, others

Delhi High Court judge Amit Sharma recused himself on Thursday from hearing a batch of bail pleas in a UAPA case linked to an alleged larger conspiracy behind the 2020 communal riots here, including that of student activist Sharjeel Imam. The matters were listed before a division bench headed by Justice Prathiba M Singh after a change in the roster of judges dealing with such cases. "Let these matters be listed before another bench of which one of us, Justice Sharma, is not a member, subject to the orders of the acting chief justice, on July 24," Justice Singh ordered. The other accused persons in the case include Rashtriya Janata Dal's (RJD) youth wing leader and Jamia Millia Islamia student Meeran Haider and Alumni Association of Jamia Millia Islamia president Shifa-ur-Rehman. Imam, United Against Hate founder Khalid Saifi and several others, including former Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student Umar Khalid, have been booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UA

21 retired judges write to CJI against attempts to 'undermine' judiciary

Former Supreme Court and high court judges expressed concerns over attempts by certain factions 'to undermine the judiciary through calculated pressure, misinformation, and public disparagement'

Gyanvapi mosque row: HC judge recuses from hearing plea against court order

Allahabad High Court judge Justice Manish Kumar Nigam on Wednesday recused himself from hearing a plea challenging the Varanasi district court's refusal to direct the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to undertake a survey of the 'wazukhana' area except the 'Shivling' inside the Gyanvapi mosque complex. The court said the matter be placed before the court of chief justice for nomination of another judge and fixed January 31 as the next date of hearing. The revision petition was filed by Rakhi Singh, who is one of the plaintiffs in the Shringar Gauri worshipping suit which is presently pending before the Varanasi district court. In her application before the Varanasi court, which was rejected on October 21, 2023, the primary contention raised by Singh was that the survey of the wazukhana, excluding the 'Shivling' is necessary to ascertain the religious character of the property in question. However, while rejecting her application, the district judge had observed in his order tha

Ministry of Law and Justice notifies transfer of several high court judges

Recently, the collegium has recommended the transfer of several judges from High Courts across the country despite requests from several of them to reconsider its decision

Two HC judges elevated to SC, total strength of apex court reaches 34

Two high court chief justices were on Friday elevated to the Supreme Court, bringing the total strength of the apex court to its maximum of 34 judges. "As per the provisions under the Constitution of India, Hon'ble President of India has appointed the following Chief Justices of High Courts as Judges of the Supreme Court. My best to them: Rajesh Bindal, Chief Justice, Allahabad HC and Aravind Kumar, Chief Justice, Gujarat HC," Law Minister Kiren Rijiju tweeted. Once they take oath, the top court will achieve its full strength of 34 judges, including the Chief Justice of India. Their names were recommended by the Supreme Court Collegium last month. Last week, five judges were appointed to the Supreme Court.