Supreme Court Collegium Recommends 5 Judges for Elevation as Chief Justices

The Supreme Court Collegium has recommended the names of 5 judges for elevation as Chief Justices of their respective High Courts. Justice Pritinker Diwaker is the seniormost puisne Judge at the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad, Justice T S Sivagnanam is the seniormost Judge of the Calcutta High Court, Justice Ramesh Sinha is the seniormost puisne Judge from the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad, Justice Sonia G Gokani is the senior most Judge of the High Court of Gujarat, and Justice Dhiraj Singh Thakur is the seniormost Judge of the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh. The Collegium’s Statement reads that the office of the Chief Justice of the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad would be falling vacant, consequent upon the elevation of Justice Rajesh Bindal to the Supreme Court of India, and the office of the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court would be falling vacant on 30 March 2023, consequent upon the retirement of Mr. Justice Prakash Shrivastava. The office of the Chief Justice of the High Court of Chhattisgarh would be falling vacant on 10 March 2023, consequent upon the retirement of Justice Arup Kumar Goswami. Since the Supreme Court Collegium, by its resolution dated 31 January 2023, has recommended the elevation of Justice Aravind Kumar, Chief Justice of the High Court of Gujarat, as a Judge of the Supreme Court of India, therefore, to take care of the probable vacancy, the Collegium has recommended the name of Justice Sonia Gokani as the Chief Justice of the High Court. Since the office of the Chief Justice of the High Court of Manipur has fallen vacant recently consequent upon the elevation of Justice P V Sanjay Kumar to the Supreme Court of India, therefore, the SC collegium has recommended the name of Justice Dhiraj Singh Thakur, the seniormost Judge of the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh, as the Chief Justice of Manipur HC.