Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
The Centre on Thursday notified the appointment of nine advocates as Additional Judges of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, clearing nine of the 10 names recommended by the Supreme Court Collegium for elevation to the bench.
The appointments are expected to strengthen the High Court, whose sanctioned judicial strength is 85, with the total number of judges now rising to 55.
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The nine newly appointed Additional Judges are Monica Chhibber Sharma, Harmeet Singh Deol, Pravindra Singh Chauhan, Rajesh Gaur, Puja Chopra, Sunish Bindlish, Minderjeet Yadav, Divya Sharma and Ravinder Malik.
Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal announced the appointments through a post on X. The appointments were made by the President under the Constitution following consultation with the Chief Justice of India.
In his post on X, Meghwal announced, “In exercise of the power conferred by the Constitution of India, after consultation with the Chief Justice of India, the President is pleased to appoint the following Advocates as Additional Judges in the Punjab and Haryana High Court: Monica Chhibber Sharma. Harmeet Singh Deol, Pravindra Singh Chauhan, Rajesh Gaur, Puja Chopra, Sunish Bindlish, Minderjeet Yadav, Divya Sharma, Ravinder Malik.”
The notification follows the Supreme Court Collegium’s May 4 recommendation of 10 advocates for appointment as judges of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
While the Centre has approved nine names from the list, advocate Navdeep Singh, who was part of the Collegium’s recommendation, has not been included in Thursday’s notification.
No reason has been specified in the appointment notification or the Law Minister’s announcement for Navdeep Singh’s exclusion.
His name was among those considered by the Collegium before the recommendations were forwarded to the government.
Several of the newly appointed judges have held important legal positions in the governments of Haryana and Punjab.
Pravindra Singh Chauhan is serving as the Advocate General of Haryana. Rajesh Gaur and Minderjeet Yadav are Additional Advocate Generals for Haryana, while Harmeet Singh Deol is an Additional Advocate General of Punjab.
The appointments come at a time when the High Court continues to function below its sanctioned strength, making the addition of nine judges significant for the disposal of pending cases and the overall functioning of the court.
The elevation of the advocates will also bring greater judicial capacity to the bench across matters concerning Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh.
With the President’s approval and the Centre’s notification, the nine advocates are set to join the High Court as Additional Judges.
The exclusion of one recommended name, however, remains unexplained, and further developments could follow regarding Navdeep Singh’s candidature. The appointments are likely to be followed by the formal assumption of office by the newly elevated judges.
– Ends
With agency inputs
SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
