Synopsis
On February 21, 2025, the Supreme Court Collegium, led by CJI Sanjiv Khanna, proposed the appointment of three permanent judges to the Bombay High Court and four to the Madras High Court, alongside extending an additional judge's term.Key Takeaways
- Supreme Court Collegium recommends new judges.
- Three judges for Bombay High Court.
- Four judges for Madras High Court.
- Extension of Justice Manjusha Ajay Deshpande's term.
- Recommendations require detailed statistics.
New Delhi, Feb 21 (NationPress) The Supreme Court Collegium, led by CJI Sanjiv Khanna, has put forth a recommendation for the appointment of three permanent judges in the Bombay High Court and four permanent judges in the Madras High Court.
The Supreme Court Collegium, during its meeting on February 20, 2025, approved the proposal for appointing the following Additional Judges as Permanent Judges in the High Court of Bombay: (i) Shri Justice Shailesh Pramod Brahme, (ii) Shri Justice Firdosh Phiroze Pooniwalla, and (iii) Shri Justice Jitendra Shantilal Jain,” stated an announcement on the apex court’s official website.
The announcement further indicated that the tenure of Justice Manjusha Ajay Deshpande, an Additional Judge, will be extended by one year.
In another statement, the SC Collegium confirmed its approval of the proposal for appointing Justices Ramasamy Sakthivel, P. Dhanabal, Chinnasamy Kumarappan, and Kandasamy Rajasekar as permanent Judges in the Madras High Court.
The appointment of the Chief Justice and Judges of the High Courts is under the purview of the President as per clause (1) of Article 217 of the Constitution.
When recommending an Additional Judge for permanent status, the Chief Justice must also provide statistics regarding the month-wise disposal of cases and judgments by the concerned judge, along with the number of cases documented in the Law Journal, duly certified.
This information must also include the total number of working days, the actual court attendance, and days absent during the period for which the disposal statistics are provided.
As per the Constitution, Additional Judges may be appointed by the President under clause (1) of Article 224.
According to the Memorandum of Procedure (MoP) governing the appointment of High Court judges, the Chief Justice of the High Court should refrain from recommending an Additional Judge's appointment when a vacancy exists for a permanent Judge.
