The Supreme Court collegium has recommended the appointment of Delhi High Court judge Justice Siddharth Mridul as the chief justice of the Manipur High Court. The proposal was made by the collegium comprising Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice Sanjiv Khanna.
The collegium has also recommended the name of Justice Sunita Agarwal as the new chief justice of the Gujarat High Court. Justice Agarwal is serving as a senior-most puisne judge of the Allahabad High Court.
"Having regard to all relevant factors, the Collegium is of the considered view that Mr Justice Siddharth Mridul is fit and suitable in all respects for being appointed as the chief justice of the High Court of Manipur," Live Law quoted the collegium's recommendation.
Justice M V Muralidharan is the current acting chief justice of the Manipur High Court and it was he who passed the controversial order directing the state government to consider the inclusion of the Meitei community in the Scheduled Tribes’ list.
Earlier, the collegium had mooted the elevation of Justice Dhiraj Singh Thakur as chief justice of the Manipur High Court. However, the proposal is currently pending before the Union Government. The collegium has hence recommended Judge Thakur as the chief justice of the Andhra Pradesh High Court.
As for Justice Sunita Agarwal, the collegium said on the appointment of justice Agarwal, the Allahabad High Court would have a second chief justice among the chief justices of the High Courts. "While considering the name of Justice Sunita Agarwal, the Collegium has taken into consideration the fact that she would be the only woman chief justice of a High Court as presently there is no woman among the chief justices of the High Courts."
If the Central government approves her name, Justice Agarwal will become the only woman chief justice of a High Court.
Though Justice Sonia Gokani served as the last chief justice of the Gujarat High Court, she had a short tenure before her retirement in February this year. Justice Ashish Desai took over as Acting chief justice but he has now been recommended for elevation as chief justice of the Kerala High Court.
Other recommendations include justice Ashish J Desai, the current acting chief justice of the Gujarat High Court, as the chief justice of the Kerala High Court.
Justice Subhasis Talapatra, judge of the Orissa High Court, has been recommended for appointment as chief justice of the Orissa High Court while justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya, judge of the Allahabad High Court, has been recommended for appointment as chief justice of the Bombay High Court.
Justice Alok Aradhe, judge of the Karnataka High Court, has been recommended for appointment as chief justice of the Telangana High Court.
