Neeraj Rohmetra
Jammu, Sept 13: State High Court has submitted a panel comprising five names for their appointment as Judges and also forwarded the detailed proposal to the office of Chief Minister.
Official sources told EXCELSIOR, “the panel comprised four Advocates – two each from Jammu and Kashmir regions respectively while one senior Judicial Officer has also been included in the panel. These included Nazir Ahmad Beigh, S A Makroo,Wasim Nargal, Sindhu Sharma and Rashid Ali Dar”, sources added.
Rashid Ali Dar is presently posted as Principal District and Session Judge Srinagar. Advocate Sindhu Sharma is presently Assistant Solicitor General of India in J&K High Court, Jammu Wing and she was the first lady Advocate of State to be appointed as Assistant Solicitor General of India.
Advocate Wasim Sadiq Nargal is presently Senior Additional Advocate General and had earlier also served as Additional Advocate General (Home Department) in the Jammu Wing of the High Court. Advocate S A Makroo had earlier served as Assistant Solicitor General of India in J&K High Court, Srinagar Wing.
Interestingly, sources said, “the name of Nazir Ahmad Beigh has been recommended for the second time by the High Court collegium. Earlier, in January, 2014 also the HC collegium headed by the then Chief Justice, M M Kumar had initiated the process for appointment of four new High Court Judges and one of the contenders was Nazir Ahmad Beigh. However, he couldn’t make it to the final selection list”.
Sources further pointed out, “these five names have been recommended by the High Court collegium headed by Chief Justice, Badar Durez Ahmad in consultation with senior most Judges”.
They categorically said, “the file pertaining to the appointment of new High Court Judges, which has been recommended by the collegium has reached the office of Chief Minister but hasn’t been yet forwarded to the Union Law Ministry”.
“The credentials of the individuals mentioned in the panel are also likely to be verified by the Central Government from different angles as Centre has adopted a new methodology to conduct detailed scrutiny of professional track record of Advocates and Judicial Officers recommended by different High Court collegiums of the country”, sources further added.
The sanctioned strength of the J&K High Court is 17 Judges including Chief Justice, but presently there are only 12 Judges. These included Justice R Sudhakar, Justice Mohammad Yaqoob Mir, Justice Alok Aradhe, Justice Ali Mohd Magrey, Justice Dhiraj Singh Thakur, Justice Tashi Rabstan, Justice Janak Raj Kotwal, Justice Bawa Singh Walia, Justice Sanjeev Kumar Shukla, Justice M K Hanjura and Justice Sanjay Kumar Gupta besides Chief Justice Badar Durrez Ahmed.
It is pertinent to mention here that on June 2, this year the Union Law Ministry by virtue of the Notification No. K 13021/01/2016-US.II had appointed three new Judges of Jammu and Kashmir High Court — Sanjeev Kumar Shukla, Mahraj Krishan Hanjura and Sanjay Kumar Gupta.
As per the existing Memorandum of Procedure, the proposal for appointment of a High Court Judge has to be initiated by the Chief Justice of the High Court. However, if the Chief Minister desires to recommend the name of any person, he or she can forward the same to the Chief Justice for his consideration.
Similarly, a copy thereof is also endorsed to the Chief Justice of India and the Union Minister of Law, Justice and Company Affairs to expedite consideration. The Chief Justice of India in consultation with the two senior most Judges of the Supreme Court forms his opinion in regard to a person to be recommended for appointment to the High Court.
The Chief Justice of India and the collegium of two Judges of the Supreme Court also take into account the views of the Chief Justice of the High Court and of those Judges of the High Court, who have been consulted by the Chief Justice as well as views of those Judges in the Supreme Court, who are conversant with the affairs of that High Court.
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