SC Collegium Recommends Appointment of Justice Gangapurwala as Chief Justice of Madras

The Supreme Court Collegium recently recommended the appointment of SV Gangapurwala, acting Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court, as Chief Justice of the Madras High Court.

On April 19, 2023, the Supreme Court collegium recommended the appointment which included Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice KM Joseph.

Justice Gangapurwala, who was born in 1962, began his legal career in 1985 with the chambers of advocate S N Loya.

He represented financial institutions such as the Central Bank of India, Bombay Mercantile Cooperative Bank, Jalgaon Janata Sahakari Bank, and Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University.

In the aftermath of the Maharashtra riots in 1999, Justice Gangapurwala represented the government before the Justice Mane Commission.

On March 13, 2010, he was appointed as a judge of the Bombay High Court, and on December 11, 2022, he was appointed as acting Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court.

ACJ Gangapurwala is the senior-most Judge in the Bombay High Court and will step down in May 2024.

“His experience of having served as acting Chief Justice in the second largest High Court in the country (with benches at Aurangabad and Nagpur and a seat also at Goa) during the last four months would be useful for him in dispensing justice as Chief Justice in the Madras High Court” the collegium stated.

It also noted that currently there was only one Chief Justice from Bombay High Court (CJ PB Varale in Karnataka High Court).

Having considered all relevant factors, the Collegium concluded that he is fit and suitable in every way to be appointed as Chief Justice of the Madras High Court.

In a related development, the Collegium reaffirmed its earlier recommendation to appoint Justice A Muralidhar as Chief Justice of the Madras High Court.