Three advocates were elevated as additional judges of the Bombay High Court. According to a notification issued by the Department of Justice in the Union law ministry, Shailesh Pramod Brahme, Firdosh Phiroze Pooniwalla and Jitendra Shantilal Jain have been appointed as Additional Judges of the Bombay High Court for a period of two years, in that order of seniority.
Additional judges are usually appointed for a period of two years before being elevated as judges or what is popularly called permanent judges. The names of Brahme, Pooniwalla and Jain were recommended by the Supreme Court Collegium on May 2.
While recommending the name of Pooniwalla, the SC Collegium had noted that the Intelligence Bureau (IB) had flagged that he had earlier worked under an advocate who had written an article in a publication in 2020 expressing concerns over the alleged lack of freedom of speech/expression in the country in the last five-six years.
The views which have been expressed by a former senior of Shri Pooniwalla have no bearing on his own competence, ability or credentials for appointment as a judge, the Collegium had said in its resolution. The IB had also said in its report that Pooniwalla has a good personal and professional image and that nothing adverse had come to notice regarding his integrity.