The Supreme Court Collegium has recommended the elevation of four High Court Chief Justices Hemant Gupta, R. Subhash Reddy,Mukeshkumar Rasikbhai Shah and Ajay Rastogi to the Supreme Court.
The Collegium comprising of CJI Ranjan Gogoi and Justices Madan B. Lokur, Kurian Joseph, A.K. Sikri and S.A. Bobde took into consideration the factors of seniority, merit and integrity in making the above recommendations.
“… the Collegium has taken into consideration combined seniority on all-India basis of Chief Justices and senior puisne Judges of High Courts, apart from their merit and integrity. The Collegium has also kept in mind, while recommending the above names that the High Courts of Punjab & Haryana, Gujarat and Rajasthan have remained unrepresented in the Supreme Court since long,” the resolution reads.
If the recommendations are cleared, it will bring the working strength of the Supreme Court to 28, just three judges short of its sanctioned strength of 31 judges.
Justices Hemant Gupta, R. Subhash Reddy,Mukeshkumar Rasikbhai Shah and Ajay Rastogi are the Chief Justices of Madhya Pradesh High Court, Gujarat High Court, Patna High Court and Tripura High Court respectively.
If the recommendations are cleared, it will bring the working strength of the Supreme Court to 28, just three judges short of its sanctioned strength of 31 judges.
Justice Hemant Gupta was appointed as a Judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court on July 2, 2002, and was transferred to Patna High Court on February 8, 2016. He was elevated as Chief Justice of Madhya Pradesh High Court on March 18, 2017, and has been functioning there since then.
Justice R. Subhash Reddy was appointed as a Judge of the Andhra Pradesh High Court on December 2, 2002. He was elevated as Chief Justice of Gujarat High Court on December 13, 2016, and has been functioning there since then. While considering his name, the Collegium took into consideration the fact that Justice Reddy belongs to the State of Telangana and that at present there is no Judge in the Supreme Court from the State of Telangana.
Justice Mukeshkumar Rasikbhai Shah was appointed as a Judge of the Gujarat High Court on March 7, 2004. He was elevated as Chief Justice of Patna High Court on August 12, 2018, and has been functioning there since then.
Justice Ajay Rastogi was appointed as a Judge of the Rajasthan High Court on September 2, 2004. He was elevated as Chief Justice of Tripura High Court on March 1, 2018, and has been functioning there since then.
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