Sc Collegium

SCBA urges reforms in collegium, seeks merit-based judge appointments

SCBA president wrote to the CJI and Law Minister, citing flaws in the collegium system and warning that delays in reform erode judicial integrity and public trust

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).

CJI Gavai vows full transparency in collegium, no compromise on merit

Chief Justice of India (CJI) B R Gavai on Friday assured to infuse "complete transparency" in the collegium system of appointment of judges, wherein merit will never be compromised and all sections of society will get representation. The CJI, who was sworn in as the 52nd Chief Justice of India last month, was speaking at the Bombay High Court in an event organised by the Bombay Bar Association to honour his elevation to the highest judicial position in the country. CJI Gavai said since his predecessor Justice Sanjeev Khanna was the CJI, the collegium has tried to infuse more transparency in matters of appointments. He added that SC Justice Dipankar Datta previously at an event in Nagpur last week spoke about interference in the working of the collegium. "I assure everyone, we will adopt a procedure of complete transparency. Merit will never be compromised. We will have representatives from all sections of society. Names of all recommended will be followed up," the CJI said. He ...

SC collegium backs 2 HC chief justices, Bombay HC judge for SC elevation

The Supreme Court collegium on Monday recommended the appointments of Karnataka High Court Chief Justice N V Anjaria, Gauhati High Court Chief Justice Vijay Bishnoi, and Bombay High Court judge Justice A S Chandurkar as judges of the top court. The five-member collegium headed by Chief Justice B R Gavai decided to recommend the names as against the three existing vacancies of judges in the top court following the superannuation of ex-CJI Sanjiv Khanna, and Justices Abhay S Oka and Hrishikesh Roy. Justice Bela M Trivedi is also set to superannuate on June 9. The apex court, which has a sanctioned strength of 34, is currently working with 31 judges.

'Transfer meant to harass me': MP HC Justice DV Ramana in farewell speech

Justice Ramana claimed he had submitted representations twice to the Supreme Court Collegium requesting a transfer, citing his wife's medical condition, but received no response

'No cash found' at Justice Varma's residence, says Delhi Fire chief

Earlier in the day, media reports said a large stash of cash was recovered from Delhi HC Justice Yashwant Varma's residence during the course of fire-fighting a blaze at his residence

SC collegium recommends Patna HC CJ K Vinod Chandran as top court judge

The Supreme Court collegium on Tuesday recommended Patna High Court Chief Justice K Vinod Chandran to be appointed as a judge of the apex court. The five-judge collegium led by Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna in a meeting held on Tuesday recommended the name of Justice Chandran, who was appointed as a judge of the Kerala High Court on November 8, 2011. Justice Chandran was elevated as the Patna High Court Chief Justice and has been serving the position since March 29, 2023. Given the Centre clears the recommendation, the Supreme Court judges' strength will rise to 33 compared to the sanctioned strength of 34 judges. Supreme Court judge Justice C T Ravikumar demitted office on January 3. "He has served as a judge of the high court for more than 11 years and as a chief justice of a big high court for more than a year. During his long tenure as a judge and chief justice of the high court, Justice Chandran has acquired significant experience in diverse fields of law," said the ..

No forward movement on 4 names reiterated by Collegium headed by CJI

There has been no forward movement on the names reiterated by the Supreme Court Collegium headed by Justice D Y Chandrachud for appointment as high court judges as he demits office as the chief justice of India on November 10. The collegium had in January 2023 reiterated the names of advocates Saurabh Kirpal for elevation as a judge of the Delhi High Court, R John Satyan as judge of the Madras HC, and Amitesh Banerjee and Sakya Sen as judges of the Calcutta High Court. The top court collegium had also reiterated the name of Somasekhar Sundaresan, also an advocate, as judge of the Bombay High Court in January 2023. In November that year, he was elevated as a judge of the Bombay HC. People aware of the procedure to appoint high court and Supreme Court judges said the files relating to Kirpal, Satyan, Banerjee and Sen are still pending with the government. In Januaary 2023, the Supreme Court collegium had for the second time reiterated the names of Banerjee and Sen for appointment as

SC collegium recommends judges' names to Centre for appointment in 3 HCs

The Supreme Court Collegium headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud has recommended to the Centre the names of three advocates for appointment as judges of the Andhra Pradesh High Court. The three-member collegium, which also comprised Justices Sanjiv Khanna and B R Gavai, held the meeting on Tuesday and also decided to recommend the names of four senior judicial officers as judges of the Kerala High Court. It, by way of a separate resolution, recommended to the Centre the name of Justice Siddaiah Rachaiah, an additional judge of the Karnataka High Court, as a permanent Judge of the same high court. "The Collegium resolves to recommend that S/Shri (i) Maheswara Rao Kuncheam @ Kuncham, (ii) Thoota Chandra Dhana Sekar @ T C D Sekhar, and (iii) Challa Gunaranjan, advocates, be appointed as Judges of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh. Their inter se seniority be fixed as per the existing practice," the October 15 resolution said. They all are practising as lawyers in the Andhra Pradesh

'Why is it pending': SC pulls up govt over non-appointment of judges

The Supreme Court Collegium is not a search committee for judges whose recommendations can be stalled, said CJI

SC collegium denies Justice Shamim's request, repeats transfer to Madras HC

Declining Allahabad High Court judge Justice Shamim Ahmed's request for reconsideration of his transfer to the Madras High Court, the Supreme Court Collegium on Friday reiterated his transfer for better administration of justice. According to a resolution uploaded on the apex court website, on August 21, 2024, the Collegium, headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna, B R Gavai, Surya Kant and Hrishikesh Roy, proposed the transfer of Justice Ahmed. "In terms of the Memorandum of Procedure, we have consulted one of the Judges of the Supreme Court who, being conversant with the affairs of the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad, is in a position to offer views on the proposed transfer. "We have also consulted the Chief Justice of the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad and the Acting Chief Justice of the Madras High Court. Mr Justice Shamim Ahmed, however, by a representation dated 22 August 2024 has requested reconsideration of the proposal for

SC collegium suggests extending tenure of 9 judges of Calcutta HC for a yr

The Supreme Court collegium headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud on Wednesday recommended to the Centre that the term of nine additional judges of the Calcutta High Court be extended by one year. Besides the CJI, Justices Sanjiv Khanna and B R Gavai are part of the collegium which decide the names for high court judgeship. The collegium did not recommend the names of the judges for appointment as permanent judges of the high court at this stage. "The Supreme Court Collegium has recommended the names of Shri Justices (i) Biswaroop Chowdhury, (ii) Partha Sarathi Sen, (iii) Prasenjit Biswas, (iv) Uday Kumar, (v) Ajay Kumar Gupta, (vi) Supratim Bhattacharya, (vii) Partha Sarathi Chatterjee, (viii) Apurba Sinha Ray, and (ix) Md. Shabbar Rashidi, Additional Judges of the High Court at Calcutta, for appointment as Additional Judges for a fresh term of one year," the apex court said in its resolution. The resolution said the high court collegium, on April 29, had unanimously recommende

Supreme Court collegium recommends appointment of chief justices in 7 HCs

The Supreme Court has recommended the appointment of chief justices for the high courts of Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Madras and Meghalaya. The collegium headed by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud and also comprising justices Sanjiv Khanna and B R Gavai made the recommendations after considering the names of judges from different high courts by taking into account their seniority and performance, and the need to provide representation in the different high courts. Justice Manmohan, who is is the acting Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court, has been recommended as the chief justice of the court. "He was appointed as a Judge of the High Court of Delhi on March 13, 2008, and is due to retire on December 16, 2024. Justice Manmohan ranks at Sl No 3 in the All India Seniority list of High Court Judges. "Bearing in mind the Memorandum of Procedure, Mr Justice Manmohan can be appointed as the Chief Justice of his parent High Court,

SC Collegium recommends two judges as permanent judges of Gauhati HC

The Supreme Court Collegium headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) D Y Chandrachud has recommended to the Centre the names of two additional judges for appointment as permanent judges of the Gauhati High Court. The Collegium, also comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and B R Gavai, recommended that Justice Rajesh Sekhri be appointed as an additional judge of the Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court for a fresh term of one year with effect from July 29, 2024. "... the Collegium resolves to recommend that Justice Susmita Phukan Khaund and Justice Mitali Thakuria, additional judges, be appointed as permanent judges of the Gauhati High Court against the existing vacancies," said one of the Collegium resolutions uploaded on the apex court website. It noted that the Collegium of the Gauhati High Court had unanimously recommended on April 1 the names of these two judges for appointment as permanent judges. "The chief ministers of the States of Assam, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh and the ..

SC refuses to consider listing of plea on abolition of collegium system

The Supreme Court on Monday refused to consider listing of a plea seeking abolition of the collegium system of judges appointing judges in the higher judiciary. A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra took note of the plea of lawyer Mathews Nedumpara that his writ petition seeking abolition of the collegium system has to be listed for hearing. I have mentioned it several times. The registry has rejected it and is not listing my petition, the lawyer said. The Registrar (Listing) has said that once the Constitution bench has ruled on something, an Article 32 petition (under the Article a plea can directly be filed in the Supreme Court on grounds of infringement of fundamental rights) is not maintainable. There are other remedies against the registrar's order, the CJI said. The review petition against the NJAC judgement was dismissed in the chambers, the lawyers said, adding, This is about the credibility of the institution. The ...

SC collegium recommends K'taka HC CJ Varale's elevation as top court judge

The Supreme Court collegium headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud on Friday recommended the elevation of Karnataka High Court Chief Justice Prasanna B Varale as a top court judge. In a meeting held on Friday, the collegium, also comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna, B R Gavai, Surya Kant and Aniruddha Bose, took into consideration the fact that he is among the senior-most High Court judges and is the only HC chief justice from the Scheduled Caste. "We are also conscious of the fact that at present, there are three Judges from the High Court of Bombay on the Bench of the Supreme Court. The Collegium, therefore, unanimously resolves to recommend that Mr Justice Prasanna B Varale be appointed as a Judge of the Supreme Court of India," the collegium said. The collegium took note of the vacancy that arose on the retirement of Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul on December 25, 2023. "Bearing in mind that the workload of judges has increased considerably, it has become necessary to ensure that the

I myself am servant of law: CJI on reforming SC's Collegium system

He said though CJI has brought many reforms, the reforms relating to Collegium and senior designation were much needed to take the judiciary to new heights

SC flags Centre's selective clearing of collegium recommendations

The Supreme Court on Monday flagged the issue of "pick and choose" by the Centre in clearing the collegium's recommendations for transferring high court judges and said this does not send a good signal. The court observed that of the 11 names of judges recommended by the collegium for transfer, five have been transferred but six are still pending -- four from the Gujarat High Court and one each from the high courts of Allahabad and Delhi. A bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Sudhanshu Dhulia said of the recently-recommended names for judgeship in high courts, eight have not been cleared and some of these judges are senior to those who have been appointed. "As per my information, you have issued transfer orders for five judges. For six judges, you have not issued. Four of them are from Gujarat. Last time also, I had said this does not send a good signal," Justice Kaul, who is also a member of the apex court collegium, told Attorney General R Venkataramani. Asserting that this

SC to hear pleas on delay by govt in clearing collegium's recommendations

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Monday two petitions, including one alleging a delay on the Centre's part in clearing the names recommended by the collegium for appointment and transfer of judges. A bench comprising Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Sudhanshu Dhulia and Sandeep Mehta is slated to hear the matter on Monday. While hearing the pleas on November 7, the apex court said it was "troublesome" that the Centre was selectively picking, choosing and appointing judges whose names were recommended by the collegium for appointment to the higher judiciary. It had also expressed concern over the pendency of names recommended for transfer from one high court to another. "The pendency of transfer matters is an issue of great concern as it has been selectively done. The attorney general submits that the issue is being taken up by him with the government," the bench had said. "We have emphasised to him again that once these people are already appointed as judges, where they perfo

Centre cannot 'pick and choose' names from collegium resolutions: SC

The bench noted in its order that 14 first-time recommendations and five reiterated recommendations are currently pending with the Centre