Collegium recommends transfer of eight High Court Judges

On Thursday, the Supreme Court Collegium recommended eight new Chief Justices to the High Courts of Chattisgarh, Manipur, Madras, Gujarat, Calcutta, Gauhati, Allahabad, and Patna to fill the vacancies due to the elevation of judges as Apex Court judges or retirement. Chief Justice DY Chanfrachud, Justice K.M. Joseph, and Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul stated that the judges were recommended on the basis of experience, inclusivity, regional representation, and seniority. The list of eight judges suggested as High Court Chief Justices are as follows:

• Justice Sandeep Mehta of the Rajasthan High Court was recommended to be appointed as the Chief Justice of the Gauhati High Court. 
• Justice K. Vinod Chandran who is the judge of Kerala High Court is to be appointed as Chief Justice of Patna High Court. The Collegium highlighted that the Patna High Court is without a Chief Justice since the elevation of Justice Sanjay Karol as Supreme Court judge. 
• Justice T.S. Sivagnanam was recommended as Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court upon the retirement of Justice Prakash Shrivastav on 30th March 2023. Madras High Court is the parent High Court of Justice Sivagnanam (seniormost puisne judge).
• Justice S. Manikumar who is presently the Chief Justice of Kerala High Court was recommended by the Collegium to be appointed as the Chief Justice of one of the largest High Courts, Madras HC. 
• Justice Pritinker Diwaker was recommended as the Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court. He is the seniormost puisne judge of Allahabad High Court, serving there since October 2018. While suggesting his name, the Collegium stated that his dedicated years in the HC would provide ‘useful experience’.
• Justice Sonia G. Gokani (Gujarat’s seniormost puisne judge) was recommended as Chief Justice of Gujarat due to the elevation of Gujarat HC’s Chief Justice Aravind Kumar to Supreme Court judge. 
• Justice Dhiraj Singh Thakur, currently serving in the Bombay HC, was recommended as Manipur Chief Justice. Since the appointment of Justice P.V. Sanjay Kumar as the Supreme Court judge, the office was vacant for a long time. Jammu and Kasmir and Ladakh High Court is the parent HC of Justice Dhiraj Singh.
• Allahabad High Court judge, Justice Ramesh Sinha, was recommended as the Chattisgarh Chief Justice upon the retirement of Justice Arup Kumar Goswami on 10th March 2023.