Collegium Recommends 5 Judges To Centre For Elevation To SC

New Delhi: The six-member Collegium led by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud on Tuesday recommended five judges, including Justices Pankaj Mithal and Sanjay Karol, the chief justices of high courts of Rajasthan and Patna, for elevation as judges of the apex court which currently has six vacancies.

The Collegium's recommendations, if accepted by the Centre, will raise the total number of judges in the apex court to 33 against the sanctioned strength of 34 including the CJI.

The recommendations come on the heels of the Centre returning 20 names to the Collegium for reconsideration amid a festering dispute between the executive and the judiciary over the collegium system where sitting judges appoint judges to constitutional courts.

The Collegium had recommended these 20 people for appointment as judges of different high courts. The names included nine whose names the Collegium had reiterated for appointment as HC judges.

The six-member Collegium, which also comprised Justices S K Kaul, S Abdul Nazeer, K M Joseph, M R Shah and Sanjiv Khanna, also recommended the names of three high court judges for appointing them as chief justices of the high courts of Jharkhand, Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh and Gauhati. The Collegium, in its first meeting after the Centre cleared Justice Dipankar Datta for elevation as a judge of the Supreme Court, also recommended the elevation of Justice P V Sanjay Kumar, Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah and Justice Manoj Misra as judges of the top court.

"The Supreme Court Collegium in its meeting held on December 13, 2022 has resolved to recommend elevation of the following chief justices/judges of the high courts, as judges in the Supreme Court: 1. Justice Pankaj Mithal, Chief Justice, Rajasthan High Court 2. Justice Sanjay Karol, Chief Justice, Patna High Court, 3. Justice P V Sanjay Kumar, Chief Justice, Manipur High Court, 4. Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah, Judge, Patna High Court and 5. Justice Manoj Misra, Judge, Allahabad High Court," said a statement uploaded on the apex court's website.

The Supreme Court Collegium recommended the elevation of three high court judges as chief justices.

While Justice Sanjaya Kumar Mishra of the Uttarakhand High Court has been recommended as the chief justice of the Jharkhand High Court, Justice N Kotiswar Singh of the Gauhati High Court has been recommended for elevation as the chief justice of the Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court.

The Collegium has recommended Kerala High Court judge Justice K Vinod Chandran as the chief justice of the Gauhati High Court.

Out of the 28 apex court judges at present, nine are scheduled to retire in 2023.