On appointment, J&K HC to get representation among CJs
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, July 6: Supreme Court Collegium comprising Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud, Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice Sanjiv Khanna has recommended that Justice Dhiraj Singh Thakur, Judge in High Court of Bombay, be appointed as Chief Justice of High Court of Andhra Pradesh.
The office of the Chief Justice of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh fell vacant on May 19, 2023 consequent upon the elevation of Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra to the Supreme Court.
Keeping in view Memorandum of Procedure relating to appointment of Chief Justice of a High Court, the Supreme Court Collegium has proposed to appoint Justice Dhiraj Singh Thakur as Chief Justice of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh.
He was appointed as a Judge of the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir on March 8, 2013 and is now the senior-most Judge in his parent High Court. He was transferred, in the interest of better administration of justice, to the High Court of Bombay in June 2022 and has been functioning there since then.
The recommendation made by the Supreme Court Collegium on February 9, 2023 for his elevation as Chief Justice of the High Court of Manipur has been pending with the Government. On appointment of Justice Thakur, the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh would get representation amongst the Chief Justices of the High Courts as per the Memorandum of Procedure.
Para 3 of the Memorandum Procedure read: “A fair representation shall be given to various High Courts for selection of Chief Justices. For purposes of such selection, inter-se seniority of puisne Judges will be reckoned on the basis of their seniority in their own High Court. The consideration for appointment of Chief Justices shall be based on the criterion of seniority subject to merit and integrity”.
“Having regard to all relevant factors, the Supreme Court Collegium is of the considered view that Justice Dhiraj Singh Thakur is fit and suitable in all respects for being appointed as Chief Justice of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh. Accordingly, Collegium, in supersession of its recommendation dated February 9, 2023, resolves to recommend that Justice Dhiraj Singh Thakur be appointed as Chief Justice of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh”, read the resolution.
Born on April 25, 1964, Justice Thakur was enrolled as an Advocate on October 18, 1989 with the Bar Council of Delhi and subsequently with the Bar Council of Jammu and Kashmir. He was designated as Senior Advocate in 2011 and appointed as Permanent Judge of High Court of Jammu and Kashmir on March 8, 2013. He was transferred as a Judge, High Court of Judicature at Bombay on June 10, 2022.
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