Nearly three months after the supreme court Collegium recommended their elevation, the Union government announced the appointments of the chief justices of the high courts in himachal pradesh and Uttarakhand. It also accepted the Collegium's suggestions to add more judges to the delhi and karnataka high courts on a permanent basis.
"In exercise of the power conferred by the Constitution of india, the President of india, after consultation with Chief Justice of india, is pleased to appoint the following chief justices and additional judges as permanent judges in high courts," Union law minister Arjun ram Meghwal said a post on X. The notification for elevating punjab and haryana high court judge GS Sandhawalia as chief justice of the himachal pradesh high court and andhra pradesh high court judge G Narendar as that of the uttarakhand high court was issued on Monday.
Justice Narendar will replace Justice Ritu Bahri, who retired on october 10. The then Chief Justice of india Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud-led Collegium, which also included his successor, Sanjiv Khanna, and Justice bhushan R Gavai on september 24 recommended Justice Narendar's elevation. Justice Narendar belongs to the other backward classes (OBC). He was elevated to the bench at the karnataka high court in january 2015. Justice Narendar was transferred to the andhra pradesh high court in October. He is the senior-most judge in his parent high court. Justice Sandhawalia was the senior-most puisne judge of the punjab and haryana high court, where he was elevated as a judge in september 2011. He was supposed to take over after Justice Rajiv Shakder retired as the chief justice of the himachal pradesh high court on october 18. In July, Justice Sandhawalia was recommended for elevation as the chief justice of the madhya pradesh high court; however, the resolution was superseded by the decision in September. Prior to his elevation, the karnataka high court was not represented among the chief justices of the high courts.
From 1978 until 1983, Justice Sandhwalia's father served as the chief justice of the punjab and haryana High Court.
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