SC collegium recommends 16 names for elevation as judges of 4 HCs

The Supreme Court collegium  has recommended 16 names for elevation as judges of the high courts of Bombay, Gujarat, Orissa and Punjab and Haryana. The collegium approved the proposal for elevation of 16 names -- six judicial officers and 10 advocates as judges of these four high courts. The collegium has approved the proposal for elevation of four judicial officers -- A L Pansare, S C More, U S Joshi-Phalke and B P Deshpande -- as judges of the Bombay High Court.
Similarly, the collegium has recommended names of advocates Aditya Kumar Mohapatra and Mruganka Sekhar Sahoo and judicial officers Radha Krishna Pattanaik and Sashikanta Mishra for their elevation as judges of the Orissa High Court. For the Gujarat High Court, the collegium has approved the proposal for elevation of seven advocates -- Mauna Manish Bhatt, Samir J Dave, Hemant M Prachchhak, Sandeep N Bhatt, Aniruddha Pradyumna Mayee, Niral Rashmikant Mehta and Nisha Mahendrabhai Thakore -- as judges there. It has approved the proposal for elevation of Sandeep Moudgil, advocate, as judge in the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

Besides the CJI, the three-member collegium which deals with the appointment in high courts includes Justices U U Lalit and A M Khanwilkar. After assuming charge as the CJI in April this year, Justice Ramana has recommended nearly 100 names for appointment to different high courts, besides filling up nine vacancies of judges in the Supreme Court in one go.The 25 high courts in the country have a combined sanctioned strength of 1,080 judges and on May 1, 2021, they were functioning with 420 judges only.