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The Supreme Court collegium headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud on Thursday recommended to the Centre the names of three judges for appointment as chief justice of the high courts of Uttarakhand, Orissa and Meghalaya.
The three-member collegium, also comprising Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Sanjiv Khanna, has recommended the names of Justice Ritu Bahri, Justice Chakradhari Sharan Singh and Justice S Vaidyanathan for appointment as chief justice of the high courts of Uttarakhand, Orissa and Meghalaya respectively.
While Justice Bahri is currently a judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Justice Singh is a judge of the Patna High Court. Justice Vaidyanathan is currently a judge of the Madras high court.
One of the resolutions uploaded on the apex court website said a vacancy in the office of the chief justice of the Uttarakhand high court has arisen consequent upon retirement of Justice Vipin Sanghi on October 26, 2023.
"It is proposed to appoint Justice Ritu Bahri as the chief justice of the high court of Uttarakhand," the collegium resolution said, adding that she was appointed as a judge of the Punjab and Haryana high court on August 16, 2010.
It said Justice Bahri is the senior-most judge in her parent high court.
"As regards her contribution to the judiciary by way of disposal of cases, during her tenure of 13 years as a judge of high court, she authored 843 reported judgments of which 247 were delivered during last 5 years," it said.
"Besides, at present there is only one woman chief justice and her elevation would enhance representation of women among the chief justices of the high courts," it said while recommending Justice Bahri's name for appointment as the chief justice of the Uttarakhand high court.
Another resolution uploaded on the website said a vacancy in the office of the chief justice of the Orissa high court has arisen consequent upon retirement of Justice Subhasis Talapatra on October 3.
It said Justice Singh was appointed as a judge of the Patna high court on April 5, 2012 and has been functioning there as the senior-most judge.
"As regards his contribution to the judiciary by way of disposal of cases, during his tenure of more than 11 years as a judge of high court, he authored 1,246 reported judgments, of which 562 were delivered during last 5 years," the resolution said.
"While recommending the name of Justice Chakradhari Sharan Singh, the collegium has also taken into consideration the fact that at present the high court of judicature at Patna has no representation among the chief justices of high courts," it said, while recommending his name for appointment as the chief justice of the Orissa high court.
A separate collegium resolution said Justice Vaidyanathan was appointed as a judge of the Madras high court on October 25, 2013.
"As regards his contribution to the judiciary by way of disposal of cases, during his tenure of 10 years as a judge of the high court, he authored 1,219 reported judgments, of which 692 were delivered during last 5 years," it said.
The collegium resolution said Justice Vaidyanathan is the senior-most judge in his parent high court.
"While recommending his name, the collegium has also taken into consideration the fact that the Madras High Court which is one of the largest high courts in the country, is presently represented by only one chief justice among the chief justices of the high courts," it said while recommending Justice Vaidyanathan's name for appointment as the chief justice of the Meghalaya high court.