Supreme Court collegium clears 68 names as judges in HCs at one go

Move underscores urgency in filling up vacancies; list includes judicial officer Marli Vankung, who if selected will become first Gauhati HC judge from Mizoram

Supreme Court of India, File picture

R. Balaji   |   TT  |  New Delhi   |  04.09.21: The Supreme Court collegium on Friday night sent as many as 68 names — the largest such recommendations at one go — to the Centre for appointment as judges in various high courts.

The 68 recommendations are for 12 high courts, including that in Calcutta. The district judges recommended for elevation as judges of Calcutta High Court are Shampa Dutt Paul, Bibhas Ranjan De, Siddhartha Roy Chowdhury and Ajoy Kumar Mukherjee, sources said. Advocates Krishna Rao and Koyeli Bhat are also among those recommended, the sources added.

Among the 68 names recommended for the high courts is judicial officer Marli Vankung for Gauhati High Court. If selected, Vankung, who belongs to a Scheduled Tribe, will be the first high court judge from Mizoram.

The three-member collegium, headed by Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana, had considered the names of over 110 candidates (82 from the Bar and 31 from the judicial services) during meetings held on August 25 and September 1.

The collegium, whose other members include Justices U.U. Lalit and A.M. Khanwilkar, cleared the shortlisted names on Friday night. Of them, 44 are from the Bar and 24 are district judges. Women total 10.

Sources said the collegium’s recommendations usually did not cross single digits, adding that 68 names being suggested in one stroke underscored the urgency with which it was dealing with the vacancies in the high courts.

Last month, the collegium had cleared an unprecedented nine names at one go for judge’s assignments at the Supreme Court, paving the way for their elevation and oath-taking on August 31.

The 12 high courts for which the recommendations have been made are those of Calcutta, Allahabad, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Jammu and Kashmir, Madras, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Punjab and Haryana, Kerala, Chhattisgarh and Assam.