The Supreme Court collegium headed by CJI NV Ramana is learnt to have recommended eight names of judges, including acting chief justice of Calcutta High Court Justice Rajesh Bindal, for their elevation as chief justices of different high courts. The Collegium including the senior most four judges of the apex court also decided to transfer five Chief Justices of High Court and 28 High Court Judges to other States.
Tripura High Court Chief Justice Akil Kureshi has been transferred to Rajasthan. Justice Kureshi, one of the senior-most high court judges in the country, was originally elevated as a judge in the Gujarat High Court and has been in news due to his non-elevation as a judge of the apex court. His decision to give CBI custody of Amit Shah in 2010 invited controversies.
Justice Bindal of Calcutta High Court has been in news recently due to his administrative and judicial decisions in matters related to political stand-off between the BJP and the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal. Chief justice of Andhra Pradesh High Court Justice Arup Kumar Goswami has been transferred to Chhattisgarh High Court, Chief justice of Madhya Pradesh High Court Justice Mohd Rafiq to the Himachal Pradesh High Court. The Collegium also recommended transfer of Chief Justice of Rajasthan High Court Justice Indrajit Mahanty to the Tripura High Court and Meghalaya High Court Chief Justice Biswanath Somadder to the Sikkim High Court.
Besides Justice Bindal, the Collegium has recommended names of Justices Prakash Srivastava, Prashant Kumar Mishra, Ritu Raj Awasthi, Satish Chandra Sharma, Ranjit V More, Aravind Kumar and R V Malimath for appointing them as chief justices of different high courts across the country, the sources said. Sources said names of Justices Prakash Srivastava, Prashant Kumar Mishra and Ritu Raj Awasthi have been recommended for appointment as chief justices of high courts of Calcutta, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.
After assuming charge as the CJI in April this year, Justice Ramana has recommended nearly 100 names for appointment to different high courts, sources said.
The 25 high courts of the country have a combined sanctioned strength of 1,080 judges and on May 1, 2021, the high courts were functioning with 420 judges only.
The series of recommendations have been made close on the heels of a historic decision to recommend 68 names in one go for judgeship in 12 high courts across the country.