SC Collegium Recommends Permanent Judges for Allahabad and Punjab-Haryana HCs

The Supreme Court collegium, led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud on Thursday issued recommendations for the appointment of permanent judges. In a meeting that also comprised of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Sanjiv Khanna, the collegium has made these recommendations, which have been subsequently posted on the apex court’s website.

The recommendations pertain to seven additional judges from the Allahabad High Court and eleven from the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

The following judges from the Allahabad High Court have been recommended for appointment: Justice Umesh Chandra Sharma, Justice Renu Agarwal, Justice Ram Manohar Narayan Mishra, Justice Mayank Kumar Jain, Justice Shiv Shanker Prasad, Justice Gajendra Kumar, and Justice Nalin Kumar Srivastava. The unanimous recommendations of the Allahabad High Court collegium on May 1, 2023, have received the concurrence of the Chief Minister and Governor of Uttar Pradesh.

In accordance with the Memorandum of Procedure, consultations were made with judges of the Supreme Court who are familiar with the operations of the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad to assess the suitability of the Additional Judges for permanent appointment. Additionally, a committee of two judges of the Supreme Court, as constituted by the Chief Justice of India pursuant to the Resolution dated October 26, 2017, has evaluated the judgments rendered by the Additional Judges.

The resolution further states that, for the purpose of assessing the merit and suitability of the additional judges for permanent appointment, a thorough examination was conducted, including the consideration of the consultee judges’ opinions and the report from the Judgment Evaluation Committee. After a comprehensive evaluation, the collegium has determined that the seven Additional Judges are indeed fit and suitable for permanent appointment.

In a separate decision, the Supreme Court collegium has also recommended the appointment of eleven additional judges from the High Court of Punjab and Haryana as permanent judges. The judges recommended for permanent appointment are Justice Nidhi Gupta, Justice Sanjay Vashisth, Justice Tribhuvan Dahiya, Justice Namit Kumar, Justice Harkesh Manuja, Justice Aman Chaudhary, Justice Naresh Singh, Justice Harsh Bunger, Justice Jagmohan Bansal, Justice Deepak Manchanda, and Justice Alok Jain.

The recommendations from the Punjab and Haryana High Court collegium, which were made unanimously on May 20, 2023, have been duly endorsed by the Chief Ministers and Governors of the States of Punjab and Haryana. In accordance with the Memorandum of Procedure, consultations were held with judges of the Supreme Court familiar with the operations of the High Court of Punjab and Haryana to assess the suitability of these judges for permanent appointment.