SC collegium clears 36 names as high court judge nominees

In a major step towards overhauling the judicial appointments process, the Supreme Court collegium has cleared a record 36 names for elevation as judges to various high courts, following its unprecedented two-day marathon of personal interviews with 54 candidates earlier this week.

- Utkarsh Anand

The names cleared are for appointments across several high courts, including those in Delhi, Punjab and Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Patna, Andhra Pradesh, and Rajasthan, among others.

The collegium, comprising Chief Justice of India BR Gavai and senior judges justices Surya Kant and Vikram Nath, held these interviews on July 2and 3. The cleared names represent a mix of judicial officers and members of the Bar, selected through a rigorous vetting that included in-person assessments of their legal acumen, views ‘on contemporary constitutional questions and broader personality traits.

According to the collegium’s resolution, 10 names each have been recommended for appointmentin the high courts of Punjab & Haryana and Madhya Pradesh, four each in the high courts of Telangana and Gauhati, three in the Delhi high court, two each in the high courts of Rajasthan and Patna, one in Andhra Pradesh high court. As on July], there are 371 vacancies against the sanctioned strength of 1,122 across the 25 high courts in the country.