Postings of 3 HC CJs-designate changed on govt 'sensitive info'

NEW DELHI: Finding merit in the "sensitive information" provided by the Union government, the Supreme Court collegium on Tuesday reconsidered its July 11 recommendation for appointment of chief justices to seven high courts and routed three of them to different HCs.

The collegium led by CJI D Y Chandrachud and comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and B R Gavai superseded its earlier recommendations for Justices Suresh Kumar Kait, who was to become CJ of the HC of J&K and Ladakh; G S Sandhawalia, who was recommended as CJ of Madhya Pradesh HC; and Tashi Rabstan, who was recommended as CJ of Meghalaya HC.

The collegium's resolution on Tuesday recommended appointment of Justice Indra Prasanna Mukerji, a judge of Calcutta HC, as CJ of Meghalaya HC in place of Justice Rabstan. Justice Rabstan is now recommended to head his parent HC of J&K and Ladakh and has less than a year to go for retirement.

The collegium superseded its recommendation for appointment of Justice Kait, who belongs to the Dalit community, as CJ of J&K and Ladakh and recommended his appointment as CJ of Madhya Pradesh HC.

Justice Sandhawalia, instead of becoming CJ of Madhya Pradesh, will now head Himachal Pradesh HC after the retirement of Justice Rajiv Shakher on Oct 18. On July 11, the collegium had recommended Justice Shakdher's name as CJ of HP HC, where he will now have a tenure of less than a month.

The collegium said the other recommendations of July 11 would stand, which included the proposal to appoint Justice Manmohan as CJ of Delhi HC, Justice Shakdher as CJ of HP HC, Justice Nitin M Jamdar as CJ of Kerala HC and Justice K R Sriram as CJ of Madras HC.

Last week, attorney general R Venkataramani had told a bench headed by CJI Chandrachud that the govt had some serious and sensitive material to justify the delay in implementing the collegium's recommendations for appointment of CJs to seven HCs. The AG had said since the material was sensitive, he would place it in sealed cover before the CJI.


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