THE JHARKHAND STORY DESK
New Delhi, Nov 6: The Supreme Court Collegium headed by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud on Monday cleared the names of three High Court Chief Justices for elevation as judges of the top court, reports The Indian Express.
The three are: Delhi High Court Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma; Rajasthan High Court Chief Justice Augustine George Masih, and Gauhati High Court Chief Justice Sandeep Mehta.
In its resolution, the five-member Collegium, which also comprises Justices S K Kaul, Sanjiv Khanna, B R Gavai and Surya Kant, said the top court is currently functioning with 31 judges “against a sanctioned strength of 34 judges”.
“The Supreme Court has a huge backlog of cases… the workload of judges has increased considerably. Bearing in mind the above, it has become necessary to ensure that the court has full working judge strength leaving no vacancy at any point of time,” it said.
It said that while recommending the three names for elevation, the Collegium took into consideration the seniority, merit, integrity and social background of the HC judges. Justices Sharma, Masih and Mehta were found “to be deserving and suitable in all respects”, the resolution said.
Justice Sharma took oath as Delhi HC Chief Justice on June 28, 2022. A law graduate from the Dr Hari Singh Gour University, Sagar, he enrolled as an advocate on September 1, 1984, and was later designated as a Senior Advocate by the Madhya Pradesh HC. He was elevated as an Additional Judge of the HC on January 18, 2008, and became a Permanent Judge on January 15, 2010.
In December 2020, Justice Sharma was transferred to the Karnataka HC where he became Acting Chief Justice on August 31, 2021. He was elevated as Chief Justice of Telangana HC on October 11, 2021.
“The judgments authored by him (Justice Sharma) dealing with issues in various branches of law stand testimony to his legal acumen and competence,” the Collegium said.
Justice Masih took oath as the Chief Justice of the Rajasthan HC on May 30, 2023. A graduate in law from Aligarh Muslim University, he enrolled in the Punjab & Haryana Bar Council on June 6, 1987, and later held several posts in the office of Advocate General, Punjab. He was sworn in as Additional Judge of Punjab & Haryana HC on July 10, 2008 and as a Permanent Judge on January 14, 2011.
Stating that Justice Masih “belongs to a minority community”, the Collegium resolution said that “while recommending his name, the Collegium is aware of the fact that at present, the Bench of the Supreme Court is represented by 2 judges from the Punjab & Haryana High Court”.
Justice Mehta was vice-chairman and chairman of the Bar Council of Rajasthan and was elevated as the Additional Judge of the Rajasthan HC on May 30, 2011. He became a permanent Judge on February 6, 2013 and took oath as the Chief Justice of the Gauhati HC on February 15, 2023.
Recommending his name, the Collegium noted that his parent HC, Rajasthan, “is a large High Court which does not have representation on the Bench of the Supreme Court”.
