Centre notifies appointment of Acting CJs of Gujarat, Allahabad HCs
Feb 10, 2023
New Delhi [India], February 10 : The Centre on Friday notified the appointment of two Acting Chief Justices of the Gujarat High Court and Allahabad High Court.
The Ministry of Law and Justice cleared the elevation of Justice Sonia Giridhar as the Acting Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court. Justice Giridhar would be the first woman to head the Gujarat High Court.
The Ministry also cleared the elevation of Justice Pritinker Diwakar as Acting Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court.
Notification issued in this regard stated, "In exercise of the power conferred by Article 223 of the Constitution of India, the President is pleased to appoint, Miss Justice Sonia Giridhar Gokani, senior most puisne Judge of the Gujarat High Court, to perform the duties of the office of the Chief Justice of that High Court with effect from the date Justice Aravind Kumar relinquishes the charge as Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court consequent upon his appointment as a Judge of the Supreme Court of India."
Notification in regards to the appointment of Acting Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court stated that in the exercise of the power conferred by Article 223 of the Constitution of India, the President is pleased to appoint, Justice Pritinker Diwaker, senior most puisne Judge of the Allahabad High Court, to perform the duties of the office of the Chief Justice of that High Court with effect from the date Justice Rajesh Bindal relinquishes the charge as Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court consequent upon his appointment as a Judge of the Supreme Court of India.
The Union of India notified the appointment of two more judges in the Supreme Court of India. The Government issued a notification of the appointment of Justices Rajesh Bindal and Justice Aravind Kumar as the Judges of the Supreme Court of India.
Law and Justice Minister Kiren Rijiju also tweeted stating, "As per the provisions under the Constitution of India, President of India has appointed the following Chief Justices of High Courts as Judges of the Supreme Court. My best to them. 1. Rajesh Bindal, Chief Justice, Allahabad HC. 2. Aravind Kumar, Chief Justice, Gujarat HC."
With the appointment of these Judges, the Apex Court will have full working strength of 34 judges.
The Supreme Court Collegium had on January 31, 2023, recommended the names of Justice Rajesh Bindal and Justice Arvind Kumar for elevation as Judges to Supreme Court.
While recommending their names the Collegium also gave a detailed explanation of the parameters these names were discussed. It stated that the elevation of Justice Rajesh Bindal was a unanimous decision of all Collegium members, while Justice Aravind Kumar's name had the nod of all members except Justice KM Joseph.
The SC Collegium comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud along with justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, KM Joseph, MR Shah, Ajay Rastogi and Sanjiv Khanna made the recommendation.
The Collegium said that they have found both of the judges to be more deserving and suitable in all respects for being appointed as Judges of the Supreme Court of India after carefully evaluating the merit, integrity and competence of eligible Chief Justices and senior puisne Judges of the High Courts and also accommodating a plurality of considerations.
