New Delhi: The Supreme Court has recommended to the central government that the term of nine additional judges of the Calcutta High Court be extended for one year. The collegium is headed by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud and comprises Justices Sanjiv Khanna and B R Gavai.
The collegium, which decides the names of the high court judgeship, did not recommend the names of the judges for appointment as permanent judges of the high court at this stage.
On 29 April 2024, the collegium of the High Court at Calcutta unanimously recommended the additional judges whose names are set out above for appointment as permanent judges of that high court. The Chief Minister and the Governor of West Bengal did not convey their views on the recommendation. The apex court collegium said to ascertain the suitability of the additional judges for being appointed as permanent judges, “we have consulted our colleagues who are conversant with the affairs of the High Court at Calcutta”.
The collegium, in a resolution passed on July 24 late evening, said that to assess the merit and suitability of the additional judges for their appointment as permanent Judges, it has scrutinized and evaluated the material placed on record. A committee of two judges of the apex court constituted by the CJI also assessed the judgments of the additional judges.
“The Collegium resolves to recommend that Justices (i) Biswaroop Chowdhury, (ii) Partha Sarathi Sen, (iii) Prasenjit Biswas, (iv) Uday Kumar, (v) Ajay Kumar Gupta, (vi) Supratim Bhattacharya, (vii) Partha Sarathi Chatterjee, (viii) Apurba Sinha Ray, and (ix) Md. Shabbar Rashidi, Additional Judges, be appointed as Additional Judges of the High Court at Calcutta for a fresh term of one year with effect from 31 August 2024”, read the collegium’s resolution.
It said that the Department of Justice has forwarded the above recommendation by invoking Para 14 of the Memorandum of Procedure (MoP). According to the MoP, if the comments of the Constitutional authorities in the State are not received within the prescribed timeframe, it should be presumed by the Minister of Law and Justice that the Governor and the Chief Minister have nothing to add to the proposal and proceed accordingly.
Read More
