SC Collegium recommends Justice Mithal as SC Judge
Neeraj Rohmetra
Jammu, Dec 13: Supreme Court Collegium headed by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud today recommended the names of five High Court Judges for appointment as Supreme Court Judges and elevation of three Judges of different High Courts as Chief Justice of High Courts.
As per the Collegium resolution, those recommended for elevation to Supreme Court included Justice Pankaj Mithal, who had also served as Chief Justice of High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh and is presently Chief Justice of Rajasthan High Court. Other Judges recommended for elevation included Justice Sanjay Karol, Chief Justice Patna High Court; Justice P V Sanjay Kumar, Chief Justice Manipur High Court; Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah, Judge Patna High Court and Justice Manoj Misra, Judge, Allahabad High Court.
“If these names are cleared by Centre, the Apex Court will have 33 Judges out of the sanctioned strength of 34 Judges”, official sources said.
The Collegium has also recommended the elevation of Justice N Kotiswar Singh of Gauhati High Court as Chief Justice of High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. “Other High Court Judges who have been elevated as Chief Justices included Justice Sanjay Kumar Mishra of Uttarakhand High Court as Chief Justice of Jharkhand High Court and Justice Vinod Chandran of Kerala High Court as Chief Justice of Gauhati High Court”, said the collegium resolution.
Justice Kotiswar Singh is presently serving as a Judge at the Gauhati High Court. He was designated as a Senior Advocate 2008 and served as the Advocate General of the State of Manipur from November 2007 till his elevation to the Bench in October 2011. He was appointed as a Judge of the Gauhati High Court in November 2012.
He was appointed as a Judge of the Manipur High Court upon its creation with effect from 23rd March, 2013. Later on, in 2017 he was appointed to perform the duties of the office of Chief Justice of the High Court of Manipur.
On transfer to Gauhati High Court, Justice Kotiswar assumed charge as a Judge, Gauhati High Court on 11.10.2018. Presently, he is Executive Chairman of the Assam State Legal Services Authority and Central Authority member of National Legal Services Authority and a member of the Governing Body of National Judicial Academy, Bhopal
He served as the Acting Chief Justice of Gauhati High Court w.e.f. 21.09.2020 to 09.01.2021 and from 09.05.2022 to 22.06.2022.
Justice Mithal, who has been recommended for elevation to the Supreme Court had earlier served as Chief Justice of Jammu and Kashmir from January 4,2021 till October 1,2022 when he had been transferred to Rajasthan High Court.
The High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh has a sanctioned strength of 17 Judges including 13 permanent Judges and 4 additional Judges but there is still one vacancy.
Sources said the composition of the Supreme Court Collegium, which usually comprises CJI and four senior-most Judges who decide the appointment of Judges to the Apex Court, has undergone a change and now it has six members with the entry of Justice Sanjiv Khanna.
The change in the Collegium has occurred due to the fact that after the CJI, none of the four senior-most Apex Court Judges — Justices S K Kaul, S Abdul Nazeer, K M Joseph and M R Shah — would become the head of the judiciary.
The convention is that besides the CJI there is at least one future CJI in the Collegium that makes recommendations to the Union Government for appointment of Judges in the Apex Court. Justice Khanna is in line to succeed Justice Chandrachud as the CJI on November 11, 2024.
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