SC clears appointment of 5 High Courts chief justices

New Delhi : The Supreme Court Collegium has recommended appointment of Chief Justice of five High Courts -- Meghalaya, Jharkhand, Madras, Madhya Pradesh and Patna.

The collegium has recommended transfer of Patna High Court Chief Justice A.P. Sahi to the Madras HC and elevation of Rajasthan High Court Judge Mohammad Rafiq as the Chief Justice of the Meghalaya High Court.

After the resignation of Madras HC Chief Justice V.K. Tahilramani in protest at her transfer to the Meghalaya High Court, Justice Vineet Kothari was appointed as Acting Chief Justice of Madras High Court while A.K. Mittal was made Chief Justice of Meghalaya High Court.

Now, the Collegium has recommended transfer of Chief Justice Mittal to the Madhya Pradesh HC and Tripura High Court Chief Justice Sanjay Karol to Patna HC as Chief Justice. It has also recommended elevation of Punjab & Haryana High Court Judge Ravi Ranjan as Chief Justice of Jharkhand High Court.

These decisions were taken at a Collegium meeting held on October 15 where it reconsidered and modified its earlier recommendations dated August 28. On August 28, the Supreme Court collegium had recommended transfer of Madras High Court Chief Justice Tahilramani to the Meghalaya High Court, which she did not accept.

The Supreme Court Collegium, in its meeting on October 15, also decided to recommend transfer of Patna High Court Judge Rakesh Kumar to the Andhra Pradesh High Court and approved the proposal for elevation of Wanlura Diengdoh, Judicial Officer, as Judge of the Meghalaya High Court, advocates Moksha Kazmi and Rajnesh Oswal as judges of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court, and advocates Soumitra Saikia and Parthivjyoti Saikia with Judicial Officer S. Hukato Swu as judges of the Gauhati High Court.