Kerala high court collegium recommends elevation of five judicial officers as HC judges

Kochi: Kerala high court collegium has recommended the elevation of five judicial officers from the district judiciary, including two women, as high court judges.The list includes Honey M Varghese, principal district and sessions judge, Alappuzha, who delivered the judgment in the sensational 2017 actor abduction and rape case, in which the eighth accused, actor Dileep, was acquitted. The other names forwarded to the Supreme Court collegium are P S Sasi Kumar, principal district and sessions judge, Thrissur; K K Balakrishnan, principal district and sessions judge, Ernakulam; N Harikumar, principal district and sessions judge, Pathanamthitta; and S Nazeera, principal district and sessions judge, Thiruvananthapuram. The Supreme Court collegium will consider the recommendation.Meanwhile, another recommendation made by the high court collegium in April 2025, comprising only women advocates, remains pending before the Supreme Court collegium. The recommendation includes Liz Mathew, a senior advocate practising in the Supreme Court, and A K Preetha, a lawyer practising in Kerala HC.At present, the Kerala HC has 38 judges, including 33 permanent judges and five additional judges, against a sanctioned strength of 35 permanent judges and 12 additional judges. However, the retirement of two judges — Justice K Babu on May 7 and Justice M B Snehalatha on May 30 — will reduce the number of permanent judges to 31.