High Court Chief Justices Satish Chandra Sharma, Augustine George Masih, and Sandeep Mehta to be elevated to the apex court.
The Supreme Court Collegium has proposed the names of the Chief Justices from Delhi, Rajasthan, and Gauhati High Courts to the Union government for appointment as Supreme Court judges. They are Satish Chandra Sharma, Augustine George Masih, and Sandeep Mehta, respectively.
As per the resolution, the judgments delivered by Satish Chandra Sharma, the current Chief Justice of Delhi HC, deal with various branches of law and stand testimony to his legal acumen and competence.
Regarding Justice Maish, the Collegium notes that he has an expertise in Constitutional, service, labour, and civil matters. According to the resolution Justice Maish is number 7 in seniority in the list of All India judges and the senior most judge from Punjab and Haryana HC. The resoltion mentions that he is from a minority community.
About Sandeep Mehta, the resolution points out he hails from the Rajasthan High Court and emphasises there is no representation from his court in SC. The resolution also notes that he has a long adjudicatory experience in the courts and his appointment to SC will be a value addition in terms of his acquired knowledge and experience.
The SC currently has three vacancies after the retirement of Justices Ravindra Bhat, Krishna Murari and Ramasubramanian in the last 4 months. If the government clears these recommendations, the SC will have a full bench. The last set of appointments to SC took place in July 2023, with the elevations of Justices Ujjal Bhuyan and Venkatnarayana Bhatti.
Since Satish Chandra Sharma is set to retire from Delhi HC on November 30, the government must respond to the resolution by then. The age of retirement for HC judges is 62, Sharma was born on November 30, 1961.
Source: MoneyControl
