7 of 25 high courts without CJs, collegium recommends names for just four

The
collegium
is
yet
to
decide
o
selecti g
judges
fo
appoi tme t
as
egula
CJs
to
HCs
of
Rajastha ,
J&K
a d
Madhya
P adesh,
which
a e
ma ed
by
acti g
CJs

NEW
DELHI:
At
a
time
whe
seve
of
the
cou t y’s
25
high
cou ts
a e
without
egula
chief
justices,
the
Sup eme
Cou t
collegium,
headed
by
CJI
Su ya
Ka t,
ecomme ded
the
ames
of
fou
HC
judges
to
the
gove me t
fo
thei
appoi tme t
as
CJs
of
the
Bombay,
Calcutta,
Pat a,
a d
Pu jab
a d
Ha ya a
HCs.The
collegium
ecomme ded
appoi tme t
of
Justice
Mahesh
Cha d a
T ipathi,
a
judge
of
Allahabad
HC,
as
CJ
of
Bombay
HC;
Justice
Ravi d a
V
Ghuge,
acti g
CJ
of
Bombay
HC,
as
CJ
of
Calcutta
HC;
Justice
V
Kameshwa
Rao,
a
judge
of
Delhi
HC,
as
CJ
of
Pat a
HC;
a d
acti g
CJ
Pu jab
a d
Ha ya a
HC
Justice
Ashwi i
Kuma
Mish a
–
whose
pa e t
high
cou t
is
Allahabad
HC
–
as
egula
CJ
of
that
HC.The
collegium
is
yet
to
decide
o
selecti g
judges
fo
appoi tme t
as
egula
CJs
to
HCs
of
Rajastha ,
J&K
a d
Madhya
P adesh,
which
a e
ma ed
by
acti g
CJs
–
Justices
Sa jeev
P akash
Sha ma,
Sa jeev
Kuma
a d
Vivek
Rusia,
espectively.The
five-membe
collegium
comp isi g
CJI
Ka t
a d
Justices
Vik am
Nath,
BV
Naga ath a,
MM
Su d esh
a d
PS
Na asimha
met
sepa ately
to
ecomme d
the
gove me t
the
t a sfe
of
O issa
HC
judges
Justices
Ma as
Ra ja
Patha
a d
K ush a
Ram
Mohapat a
to
Guja at
a d
Chhattisga h
high
cou ts,
espectively,
fo
bette
admi ist atio
of
justice.

O issa
HC
has
a
sa ctio ed
st e gth
of
33
judges
but
at
p ese t
it
has
17
judges,
i cludi g
the
CJ.

Whe
these
two
t a sfe s
take
effect,
the
wo ki g
st e gth
will
go
dow
to
15,
c eati g
a
vaca cy
of
mo e
tha
50%
of
the
posts
of
judges
i
the
HC.O issa
HC
Collegium
had
suggested
eight
ames
–
fou
advocates
a d
fou
judicial
office s
–
fo
the
co side atio
a d
sc uti y
by
SC
Collegium
a d
co seque t
ecomme datio s
fo
appoi tme t
as
judges
of
the
HC.Si ce
the
eti eme t
of
CJI
Deepak
Mis a
o
Oct
2,
2018
–
whose
te u e
towa ds
the
e d
was
mi ed
by
the
co t ove sy
of
fou -most
se io
SC
judges
led
by
Justice
J
Chelameswa
holdi g
a
u p ecede ted
p esse
agai st
the
sitti g
CJI
–
mo e
tha
50
judges
have
bee
appoi ted
to
SC
but
O issa
HC
has
ot
got
ep ese tatio
i
the
last
eight
yea s
despite
successive
CJIs
advocati g
egio al
a d
state
ep ese tatio
i
the
top
cou t
to
make
it
a
t uly
a
atio al
cou t.