The Supreme Court Collegium has recently recommended the name of advocate Manjusha Ajay Deshpande for the appointment as judge of the Bombay High Court.
Currently, the High Court functions with a total of 66 judges, including 40 permanent judges and 26 additional judges. However, it is important to note that the sanctioned strength of the court, which stands at 94 judges, makes it the 2nd largest in the country, following the Allahabad High Court.
Presently, the Bombay High Court comprises 10 women judges.
In a resolution issued by the Supreme Court Collegium, consisting of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justices SK Kaul and Sanjiv Khanna, it was stated that the recommendation for Deshpande’s appointment was made by the High Court Collegium, led by former Chief Justice Dipankar Datta, on September 26, 2022.
However, on May 2 of this year, the Supreme Court collegium deferred its decision on Deshpande’s recommendation and requested a report from the then Acting Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court, Justice Sanjay V Gangapurwala, due to concerns raised by the government in the file.
Following discussions with colleagues at the Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court, Justice Gangapurwala submitted a report on May 10, addressing the relevant matters.
The Supreme Court Collegium has diligently considered the inputs provided by the government and evaluated them in conjunction with the report from the former Acting Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court.
The Collegium’s assessment stated, “In our evaluation, the candidate is a highly competent lawyer.” It further acknowledged that Deshpande has been actively practicing law for over 32 years since 1991, demonstrating substantial expertise in various branches of law, particularly constitutional and service matters.
Additionally, Deshpande has been serving on the panel of government lawyers since 2013.
The resolution reads, “The elevation of the candidate would add to the representation of women on the Bench of the High Court of Bombay particularly amongst women lawyers practising before the Bench at Aurangabad. Keeping in view the above aspects and on considering the proposal for her elevation, the Collegium is of the considered opinion that Smt. Manjusha Ajay Deshpande is fit and suitable for appointment as a Judge of the High Court of Bombay.”
