Chandigarh, July 25
Just about four months after the Punjab and Haryana High Court collegium recommended the names of 13 advocates for elevation, the Supreme Court has approved the proposal. The approval comes at a time when the High Court is working at just over half its sanctioned strength.
The High Court as of now has 46 judges against the sanctioned strength of 85. As many as 13 judges are scheduled to retire in the next two years. Another list of nine judicial officers, too, has been forwarded by the High Court collegium comprising the Chief Justice and two senior-most colleagues. But it is still in the pipeline.
The names cleared by the Supreme Court are Nidhi Gupta, Sanjay Vashisth, Tribhuvan Dahiya, Namit Kumar, Harkesh Manuja, Aman Chaudhary, Naresh Singh Shekhawat, Harsh Bunger, Jagmohan Bansal, Deepak Manchanda, Alok Kumar Jain, Harpreet Singh Brar and Kuldeep Tiwari.
The process of appointing judges is, in fact, lengthy and time-consuming. Once cleared by the states and the governors after recommendation by the High Court collegium, the file containing the names with Intelligence Bureau reports is placed before the Supreme Court collegium when it meets. The names cleared for elevation are then sent to the Union Law Ministry before their warrants of appointment are signed by the President. The entire exercise can take several months, if not taken up on a priority basis.
SC collegium recommends elevation of 13 advocates
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