SC Collegium recommends the elevation of one judicial officer and three advocates as judges of 2 High Courts
On January 09, 2024 (Tuesday), the Supreme Court (SC) Collegium recommended the elevation of three advocates and one judicial officer as judges of two High Courts. Three resolutions were passed by the SC Collegium consisting of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justice B.R. Gavai, and Justice Sanjiv Khanna.
The Collegium recommended the name of Advocate Deepak Khot and Advocate Pavan Kumar Dwivedi @ Pavan Dwivedi for appointment as judges of the Madhya Pradesh High Court. On November 11, 2022, the Collegium of the HC recommended their names for appointment as judges of the Madhya Pradesh HC. The resolution reads, “While recommending the names of the above advocates the Collegium of the High Court had duly considered their professional competence and after finding them professionally competent, recommended their names.” The SC Collegium along with the consultee-judges said that both the advocates are suitable for elevation to the HC. In the resolution, the Collegium also noted that “the proposal for appointment of two Advocates namely S/Shri (i) Ashish Shroti and (ii) Amit Seth, whose names have been approved by this Collegium earlier in point of time i.e. on 17 October 2023, has been pending with the government. Therefore, the Collegium further resolves to recommend that the inter se seniority of the above Advocates vis-à-vis Shri Deepak Khot and Shri Pavan Kumar Dwivedi@ Pavan Dwivedi be fixed as per the existing practice.”
Judicial Officer Ramkumar Choubey has been recommended by the SC Collegium for elevation as a judge of the Madhya Pradesh HC. While recommending his name, the Collegium said “We have duly scrutinized and evaluated the material placed on record, including the report of the Collegium of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh dated 28 December 2023, based on the response submitted by Shri Ramkumar Choubey. The enquiries made by us with reliable sources to ascertain the suitability of the candidate reveal that Shri Ramkumar Choubey is a competent officer suitable for elevation to the High Court. His service record shows that he has mostly been rated as a “Very Good/Excellent” officer. The Judgment Evaluation Committee constituted by the Chief Justice of the High Court has graded the quality of judgments authored by him as “Good/Excellent”. Both the consultee-Judges have found him suitable for elevation as Judge of the High Court.”
In another resolution issued on January 09, 2024, the SC Collegium recommended the appointment of Advocate Pranav Shailesh Trivedi as a judge of the Gujarat High Court. His name was unanimously recommended by the Collegium of the Gujarat HC on September 26, 2022. While recommending his name, the Collegium observed “The candidate was enrolled with the State Bar Council in the year 2000 and has put in 23 years of practice at the High Court of Gujarat. His area of practice includes taxation, civil, criminal, constitutional, labor, company, and service cases. He is specialized in taxation and criminal law. He qualifies in terms of age and income criteria and has a well-established practice. He has appeared in cases resulting in 68 reported judgments in matters argued by him.” The Collegium further said that he is fit and suitable for being elevated as a judge of the Gujarat HC.
