SC Collegium recommends chief justices to five HCs

The Supreme Court Collegium headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi has recommended appointments to the post of chief justice of High Courts of Bombay, Uttarakhand, Gauhati, Calcutta and Sikkim. It also recommended for making seven additional judges as permanent at the Karnataka High Court.

In a meeting held on October 9, the Collegium recommended names of Justice N H Patil, the senior most judge as chief justice of Bombay High Court. It named Justice Ramesh Ranganathan hailing from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana High Court as chief justice of Uttarakhand High Court, Justice A S Bopanna from Karnataka High Court as chief justice of Gauhati High Court, Justice D K Gupta as chief justice of Calcutta High Court and Vijai Kumar Bisht from Uttarakhand High Court as chief justice of Sikkim High Court.

In a separate recommendation, the Collegium found Karnataka High Court's additional judges, Justices Kempaiah Somashekar, Smt K Somappa Mudagal, Sreenivas H Kumar, John Michael Cunha, Basavaraj A Patil, N K Sudhindrarao, and Dr H B P Sastry, suitable for being appointed as permanent judges over there.

The Collegium, comprising Justices Madan B Lokur and Kurian Joseph, considered all factors including the opinion of brother judges, and a report of the two-judge committee on assessment of judgements, to arrive at its decision. It also took note of certain complaints against some of the recommended names but found no prima facie substance in them.

It also resolved to recommend the appointment of Justices R M T Teeka Raman, N Sathish Kumar, and N Seshasayee, all additional Judges, as permanent judges of the Madras High Court.

Of the seven names recommended for appointment as judges of the Kerala High Court, the Collegium decided to recommend for names of advocates V G Arun, N Nagaresh, and P V Kunhikrishnan. Two judicial officers T V Anilkumar, and N Anil Kumar, were also recommended for appointment as judges of the Kerala High Court.