Centre notifies appointment of 11 permanent judges in Punjab & Haryana HC

New Delhi: The Centre on Wednesday issued notification on appointment of 11 permanent judges in the Punjab & Haryana High Court, acting on the recommendations made by the CJI D.Y. Chandrachud-led Supreme Court Collegium on September 14.

"In exercise of the power conferred by clause (1) of Article 217 of the Constitution of India, the President is pleased to appoint (i) Ms. Justice Nidhi Gupta, S/Shri Justices (ii) Sanjay Vashisth, (iii) Tribhuvan Dahiya, (iv) NamitKumar (v) Harkesh Manuja, (vi) Aman Chaudhary, (vii) Naresh Singh, (viii) Harsh Bunger, (ix) Jagmohan Bansal, (x) Deepak Manchanda and (xi) Alok Jain, Additional Judges of Punjab and Haryana High Court, to be Judges of that High Court with effect from the date they assume charge of their respective offices," said a notification issued by the Union Ministry of Law and Justice.

The Supreme Court Collegium recommended their appointment after the Collegium of the Punjab & Haryana High Court had unanimously forwarded its recommendation for these names on May 20.

The SC Collegium said that it has consulted other Judges of the Supreme Court who are conversant with the affairs of the Punjab & Haryana High Court in terms of the Memorandum of Procedure.

"The Committee of two judges of the Supreme Court constituted by the Chief Justice of India in terms of the Resolution dated 26 October 2017 of the Supreme Court Collegium has assessed the judgments of the Additional Judges," it had noted.

It said that it has scrutinised the material placed on record including the opinion of the consultee-judges and the report of the Judgment Evaluation Committee, to assess the merit and suitability of these additional judges for appointment as permanent judges of the Punjab & Haryana High Court. The SC Collegium said that these 11 additional judges are fit and suitable for being appointed as permanent judges against the existing vacancies. "The Chief Ministers and Governors of the State of Punjab and Haryana have concurred with the recommendation," said the statement uploaded on the website of the apex court.