The Union government on Sunday cleared the appointment of chief justices for four high courts, and paved the way for a woman judge to head the Gujarat high court for the first time since its inception in 1960. Once she takes oath, Justice Sonia Giridhar Gokani, who was appointed for Gujarat high court, will also be the only woman chief justice of a high court at present.
India has 25 high courts.
In a tweet, Union law minister Kiren Rijiju announced the appointment of justice Gokani and justice Sandeep Mehta of Rajasthan high court as chief justice of Gauhati high court.
He also announced the appointment of justice Jaswant Singh of Orissa high court as chief Justice of Tripura high court and justice N Kotiswar Singh of Gauhati high court as chief justice of high court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh.
“As per the relevant provisions under the Constitution of India, the following Judges are appointed as Chief Justices of different high courts. I extend best wishes to all of them,” Rijiju tweeted.
Justice Gokani and justice Jaswant Singh will be for a short duration as the duo are scheduled to retire on February 25 and 22, respectively.
A Supreme Court collegium, comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud and justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and KM Joseph, had recommended justice Gokani’s name to the Centre on February 9, following the elevation of chief justice Aravind Kumar to the Supreme Court.
On February 10, the Centre had appointed justice Gokani as acting chief justice of Gujarat high court.
The top court collegium, while recommending justice Gokani, had said, “The appointment of Justice Gokani as Chief Justice will bring a sense of inclusion and facilitate a representation for judges drawn from the services in the office of Chief Justice.”
The recommendation for justices Sandeep Mehta and Jaswant Singh was sent to the Centre by the Supreme Court Collegium on February 7. Justice Kotiswar Singh’s recommendation was sent to the Centre two months ago. Justice Mehta was elevated as judge of Rajasthan high court in May 2011. He is due to retire in January 2025.
Justice Jaswant Singh is presently the senior most judge in Orissa high court. The collegium has recommended Jharkhand high court judge justice Aparesh Kumar Singh to succeed Singh upon the latter’s retirement.
Justice Kotiswar Singh hails from Manipur high court and is presently the acting chief justice of Gauhati high court. He was elevated as a judge of Gauhati high court in 2011 and upon creation of Manipur high court, was shifted there in March 2013.