New Delhi: The Supreme Court collegium headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud on Wednesday recommended the names of three advocates to the Centre for appointment as the judges of the Delhi High Court.
"The collegium resolves to recommend that S/Shri (i) Ajay Digpaul, (ii) Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar, and (iii) Ms Shwetasree Majumder, advocates, be appointed as Judges of the High Court of Delhi. Their inter se seniority be fixed as per the existing practice," the apex court resolution said.
The three-member collegium, which recommends names for judgeship in High Courts, includes senior-most judge Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice BR Gavai.
"In order to ascertain the fitness and suitability of the above-named advocates for elevation to the High Court, we have consulted our colleague conversant with the affairs of the High Court of Delhi. For the purpose of assessing the merit and suitability of the above candidates for elevation to the High Court, we have scrutinized and evaluated the material placed on record. We have also perused the observations made by the Department of Justice in the file," said the collegium in a resolution.
On Digpaul, the collegium said the inputs provided by the Department of Justice in the file indicate that his professional competence is viewed to be good and there is nothing adverse regarding his integrity.
"The candidate has a good practice and considerable experience of 31 years in several branches of law including civil, criminal, constitutional, labour, company, service and commercial law with specialization in civil and criminal cases. He has argued a number of cases which is reflected by his appearance in 42 reported judgments delivered by the High Court. Bearing in mind all the relevant facts and circumstances, the Collegium is of the considered view that the candidate is fit and suitable for appointment as a judge of the high court," said the collegium.
On Shankar, the collegium said our consultee-judge has given a positive opinion on the suitability of the candidate for appointment as a judge of the high court and the inputs provided by the Department of Justice in the file indicate that his professional competence is viewed to be good and there is nothing adverse about his integrity.
And, on Majumder, the collegium said: "Regarding the suitability of the candidate, our consultee-Judge is of the opinion that the candidate is suitable for being elevated as a Judge of the High Court. The inputs provided by the Department of Justice in the file indicate that the candidate is a competent lawyer in the field of Intellectual Property Rights. The candidate has extensive practice of more than 21 years and vast experience in civil matters, particularly intellectual property rights, technology, advertising and trade secret matters, which would be a valuable addition to the Bench of the High Court of Delhi".
The collegium said besides, her elevation would promote diversity and inclusivity on the bench of the high court. "In terms of the observations of the Department of Justice, the candidate is the founder of a Law Firm. As far as the observation regarding the age of the candidate is concerned, we are of the view that the candidate fulfils the threshold age criterion of 45 years as on the date of recommendation by the Collegium of the High Court”, said the collegium.
