New Delhi, Jan 6 The Centre on Monday cleared the appointment of judges in the High Courts of Delhi and Uttarakhand.
In a post on X, Union Minister for Law and Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal announced that President Droupadi Murmu has appointed advocates Ajay Digpaul and Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar as judges of the Delhi High Court, and judicial officer Ashish Naithani as a judge of the Uttarakhand High Court.
"In exercise of the power conferred by clause (1) of Article 217 of the Constitution of India, the President is pleased to appoint S/Shri (i) Ajay Digpaul and (ii) Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar to be Judges of the Delhi High Court, in that order of seniority, with effect from the date they assume charge of their respective offices," said a notification issued by the Union Ministry of Law and Justice.
A separate notification read: "In exercise of the power conferred by clause (1) of Article 217 of the Constitution of India, the President is pleased to appoint Shri Ashish Naithani to be a Judge of the High Court of Uttarakhand with effect from the date he assumes charge of his office."
In its meeting held on December 22, 2024, the Supreme Court Collegium also approved the proposal for the appointment of judicial officer Naithani as a judge of the Uttarakhand High Court.
In August last year, the SC Collegium headed by then Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud had recommended the elevation of advocates Digpaul, Shankar, and Shwetasree Majumder as judges in the Delhi High Court.
The apex court Collegium had said that it consulted other SC judges conversant with the affairs of the Delhi High Court to ascertain the fitness and suitability of these candidates, adding that it perused the observations made by the Department of Justice in the file and evaluated the materials placed on record.
Advocate Digpaul, who appeared in 42 reported judgments delivered by the Delhi High Court, has considerable experience of 31 years in several branches of law including civil, criminal, constitutional, labour, company, service and commercial law with specialisation in civil and criminal cases.
"Our sole consultee-Judge has given a positive opinion on the suitability of the candidate for appointment as a Judge of the High Court. The inputs provided by the Department of Justice in the file indicate that his professional competence is viewed to be good and there is nothing adverse regarding his integrity," noted the SC Collegium.
Advocate Shankar has extensive practice which is reflected in 180 reported judgments delivered in the cases in which he argued, said the apex court Collegium, adding that the inputs provided by the Department of Justice in the file indicate that his professional competence is viewed to be good and there is nothing adverse about his integrity.
However, the Centre has not yet notified the appointment of advocate Majumder whose elevation was also recommended in the same resolution.
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