SC Collegium recommends transfer of 5 High Court judges and new Chief Justice for 8 High Courts

The Supreme Court Collegium on September 16, 2021, recommended new Chief Justices for 13 High Courts across the nation. Out of these 13 names, 5 of them are recommended for the transfer to other High Courts, and the rest 8 are recommended for the senior-most judges who will be upraised to Chief Justice.

The collegium headed by Chief Justice NV Ramana took this decision on September 16.

For the transfer of the High Court judges following names were recommended:

1. Justice Akil Kuresh– From Tripura High Court to Rajasthan High Court  
2. Justice Indrajit Mahanty— From Rajasthan High Court to Tripura High Court 
3. Justice Muhammad Rafiq— From Madya Pradesh High Court to Himachal Pradesh High Court 
4. Justice Arup Kumar Goswami– From Andhra Pradesh High Court to Chhattisgarh High Court 
5. Justice Biswanath Somadder– From Meghalaya High Court to Sikkim High Court 

Further 8 most senior judges are recommended for appointment to various High Courts as Chief Justice. These are:

1. Justice Rajesh Bindal— Allahabad High Court 
2. Justice Prakash Srivastava— Calcutta High Court 
3. Justice PK Mishra— Andhra Pradesh High Court 
4. Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi— Karnataka High Court 
5. Justice Satish Chandra Sharma— Telangana High Court 
6. Justice Arvind Kumar— Gujarat High Court 
7. Justice RV Malimath— Madhya Pradesh High Court 
8. Justice Ranjit V More— Meghalaya High Court 

The collegium in August recommended 9 judges for appointment in the Supreme Court which was further approved by the Central Government leading to an increase in the strength of the Supreme Court from 24 to 33.