Twenty-five Collegium recommendations for high court judges await government decision

Twenty-five names recommended by the Supreme Court Collegium for appointment as high court judges are still awaiting a government decision. The oldest file belongs to advocate Saurabh Kirpal, whose recommendation has remained unresolved since October 2017.

The recommendations are largely scattered across the Delhi, Calcutta, Madras, Punjab and Haryana, and Gujarat high courts. Sources familiar with the appointment process told PTI that the number of pending recommendations has fallen considerably compared with the recent past.

Kirpal, the son of former Chief Justice of India B.N. Kirpal, was first recommended for elevation by the Delhi High Court Collegium in October 2017. The Supreme Court Collegium is believed to have deferred consideration of his name three times before a Collegium led by then Chief Justice N.V. Ramana approved it in November 2021.

The government returned the file to the Supreme Court Collegium for reconsideration the following November. After the Collegium reiterated its recommendation, the file remained pending. Sources said the other pending names are relatively recent, apart from two additional recommendations besides Kirpal’s.

High court collegiums send recommendations for judicial officers and advocates to the Department of Justice in the Union Law Ministry. The department adds information, including Intelligence Bureau reports, before forwarding each file to the Supreme Court Collegium. The Collegium can recommend the candidate or return the file to the relevant high court collegium.

The 25 high courts have a combined sanctioned strength of 1,122 judges. Their working strength is 818, with 304 vacancies, meaning 27% of sanctioned posts are currently unfilled.