SC Collegium Recommends Chief Justices For 4 HC's: Who Are They?

The Collegium recommended the appointment of Chief Justices in the Himachal Pradesh, Patna, Gauhati & Tripura HCs.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

The Supreme Court Collegium has recommended the appointment of Chief Justices in the Himachal Pradesh, Patna, Gauhati and Tripura High Courts.

Who did they recommend?

• Himachal Pradesh High Court: Justice Sabina

• Patna High Court: Justice K Vinod Chandran

• Gauhati High Court: Justice Sandeep Mehta

• Tripura High Court: Justice Aparesh Kumar following the retirement of Justice Jaswant Singh

The top court's judicial appointment body met on Tuesday, 7 February, to finalise the appointment of chief justices across various high courts.

With the elevation of three high court chief justices to the Supreme Court on Monday, 6 February, there are now 10 high courts without full-time chiefs.

Justices Pankaj Mithal (Rajasthan high court chief justice), Sanjay Karol (Patna high court chief justice) and PV Sanjay Kumar (Manipur high court chief justice) were on Monday appointed to the Supreme Court. 

Himachal Pradesh HC Chief Justice: Collegium Recommends Justice Sabina; Who is She?

If the government clears her appointment, Justice Sabina will be the only woman chief Justice across the 25 high courts in the country.

She is currently serving as the acting Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court and was appointed to the post last month after the retirement of justice Amjad Ahtesham Sayed.

Justice Sabina, whose parent High Court is the Punjab and Haryana High Court, was appointed as a High Court judge on March 12, 2008 and she is due to retire on April 19, 2023. 

Patna HC Chief Justice: Collegium Recommends Justice Vinod K Chandran;  Who is He?

The Supreme Court Collegium had earlier recommended Justice Chandran as the Chief Justice of Gauhati High Court.

But in their latest notification, the Collegium recommended him for the Patna High Court after the post of Chief Justice their fell vacant following the elevation of Justice Sanjay Karol, the former Chief Justice of Patna High Court, to the Supreme Court.

Justice Chandran is the senior-most Judge of the Kerala High Court. He was sworn in as an additional judge of the Kerala High Court on 8 November 2011, and was made a permanent judge on 24 June 2013 and is due to retire on 24 April 2025.

Gauhati HC Chief Justice: Collegium Recommends Justice Sandeep Mehta;  Who is He?

The Supreme Court Collegium recommended the appointment of Rajasthan High Court Judge Sandeep Mehta as Chief Justice of the Gauhati High Court because the "Rajasthan High Court is unrepresented among the Chief Justices of the High Courts."

Justice Mehta was appointed as Judge of Rajasthan High Court on 30 May 2011 and is due to retire on 10 January 2025.

Tripura HC Chief Justice: Collegium Makes Additional Recommendation; Who Is The Judge?

The collegium had on 25 January proposed the appointment of Justice Jaswant Singh, who is currently a judge of the Orissa High Court, as the Chief Justice of the Tripura High Court.

However, since the Central Government is yet to confirm the recommendation and Justice Singh is due to retire on 22 February, the collegium has now proposed the appointment of Jharkhand High Court judge Aparesh Kumar Singh, as Tripura High Court Chief Justice after Justice Singh's retirement.

Justice Jaswant Singh originally belongs to the Punjab and Haryana High Court and is at present the second senior judge in the Orissa High Court.

Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh.