Supreme Court Collegium Recommends Appointment of Nine Advocates as Judges of the Bombay High Court

On September 24, 2024, the Supreme Court (SC) Collegium issued two resolutions recommending the names of nine advocates for appointment as judges of the Bombay High Court. Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justice Sanjiv Khanna, and Justice BR Gavai issued these resolutions. The names of advocates who have been recommended for appointment as Bombay High Judge are:

• Ms Nivedita Prakash Mehta,
• Shri Prafulla Surendrakumar Khubalkar,
• Shri Ashwin Damodar Bhobe,
• Shri Rohit Wasudeo Joshi,
• Shri Advait Mahendra Sethna, 
• Shri Rajesh Sudhakar Datar,
• Shri Sachin Shivajirao Deshmukh,
• Shri Gautam Ashwin Ankhad, and
• Shri Mahendra Madhavrao Nerlikar.

According to the resolutions published by the SC Collegium, the Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court in consultation with his two senior-most colleagues, recommended the names of the above Advocates for appointment as Judges of that High Court. These names were forwarded to the SC Collegium in 2 different resolutions dated January 19 and April 19. The Collegium reads, “In order to ascertain the suitability of the above-named Advocates for elevation to the High Court, we have consulted our colleagues conversant with the affairs of the High Court of Bombay. For the purpose of assessing the merit and suitability of the above candidates for elevation to the High Court, we have scrutinized and evaluated the material placed on record. We have also perused the observations made by the Department of Justice in the file.” After analyzing the work of the recommended advocates, the Collegium said that the candidates are fit and suitable for appointment as Judges of the High Court.