New Delhi: The Supreme Court collegium recommended appointment of Chief Justices to five High Courts including High Courts of Bombay, Calcutta, Uttarakhand, Gauhati and Sikkim. The collegium headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and comprising Justices Madan B Lokur and Kurian Joseph made these recommendations October 9.
Senior-most judge of the Bombay High Court Justice NH Patil was recommended for appointment as Chief Justice. The post was lying vacant since the exit of Chief Justice Manjula Chellur in December last year.
Present Acting Chief Justice of Calcuta HC, Justice DK Gupta was recommended to be the next Chief Justice in place of Chief Justice Jyotirmay Bhattacharya.
Justice Ramesh Ranganathan, the senior-most judge of the Hyderabad HC was recommended to be appointed as the next Chief Justice of the Uttarakhand HC. The office has been lying vacant since the elevation of erstwhile Chief Justice KM Joseph to the SC.
In place of the recently retired Chief Justice Ajit Singh, the collegium recommended Justice AS Bopanna, a judge of the Karnataka HC, to CJ of Gauhati HC.
Justice Vijai Kumar Bist, who is presently the senior-most judge of the Uttarakhand High Court, was recommended to be appointed as the next CJ of the Sikkim High Court. The office of Chief Justice of the Sikkim High Court has been lying vacant since the retirement of Chief Justice SK Agnihotri.