Govt notifies appointments of 9 HC CJs in massive rejig

In a major shakeup in the higher judiciary, the Union government on Monday cleared a series of long-pending appointments and transfers, notifying new chief justices for nine high courts and the relocation of 19 high court judges across India. The flurry of late-evening notifications came seven weeks after the Supreme Court collegium, under Chief Justice of India (CJI) BR Gavai, recommended these sweeping changes on May 26, marking his first decisive move after taking over as the head of the Indian judiciary. The collegium also comprised justices Surya Kant, Vikram Nath, JK Maheshwari and BV Nagarathna.

- Utkarsh Anand

The long-awaited approvals end weeks of bureaucratic impasse and underline continuing friction between the judiciary and executive over the pace and manner of processing collegium recommendations. These include charges of “selective action” — a practice that CJI Gavai has explicitly cautioned against, holding that fragmented implementation of collegium decisions disturbs seniority and erodes public confidence in the appointment process.

‘Among the significant moves, the Delhi high court received an infusion of six new judges, including the return of justice Kameshwar Rao, earlier transferred to Karnataka, and judges from the high courts of Punjab & Haryana and Bombay.

The other high courts that saw a change in leadership include Rajasthan, Karnataka, Gauhati, Patna and Jharkhand, where new chief justices were appointed, and Madras, Tripura, Telangana and Jharkhand, where incumbent chiefs were rotated.

This revamp comes in the wake of growing unease within judicial circles over the Centre's delay in acting on several crucial collegium files.