NEW DELHI: The five-judge Supreme Court collegium led by CJI Sanjiv Khanna on Tuesday recommended to Union govt to appoint Patna high court Chief Justice K Vinod Chandran as a judge of SC, and nominated new chief justices for two important HCs – Delhi and Bombay.
The collegium, also comprising Justices B R Gavai, Surya Kant, Hrishikesh Roy and A S Oka, deliberated the names of at least three chief justices before reaching unanimity on Justice Chandran’s elevation to the SC to give Kerala HC representation in the highest court.
Giving reasons for Justice Chandran’s elevation, the collegium said in its resolution that he was the senior-most judge from Kerala HC and stood at 13th in the all-India seniority list of high court judges.
The collegium said it had “taken into consideration the fact that there is no representation on the bench of SC from the high court of Kerala.
The collegium has, therefore, unanimously recommended that Justice Chandran be appointed as a judge of the SC”. Justice C T Ravikumar, who was from Kerala, retired from the SC on Jan 5.
The SC collegium in Dec 2022 had recommended Justice Chandran’s appointment as chief justice of Gauhati HC. However, three months later, it recalled the recommendation and passed a fresh resolution for his appointment as Patna HC chief justice. Justice Chandran was appointed as a judge of the Kerala HC on Nov 8, 2011, and took oath as Patna HC CJ on March 29, 2023.
The collegium recommended a new chief justice for Delhi high court, a post which had fallen vacant after the appointment of Delhi HC Chief Justice Manmohan as a judge of SC on Dec 5 last year.
It recommended transfer of Bombay HC Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya as chief justice of Delhi HC.
It also recommended the transfer of Telangana HC Chief Justice Alok Aradhe as chief justice of Bombay HC, a post which will fall vacant on Justice Upadhyaya’s appointment as chief justice of Delhi HC.
Justice Upadhyaya was appointed as a judge of Allahabad HC on Nov 21, 2011, and took oath as chief justice of Bombay high court on July 29, 2023. Justice Aradhe was appointed as a judge of Madhya Pradesh HC on Dec 29, 2009, and was transferred to J&K HC on Sept 20, 2016.
He was transferred to Karnataka HC on Nov 17, 2018, and was appointed as chief justice of Telangana HC on July 23, 2023.
