Centre clears appointment of 3 permanent judges in Bombay HC, extends term of an addl judge

New Delhi(The Uttam Hindu): Acting swiftly on the recommendation made by the Supreme Court Collegium, the Centre on Tuesday cleared the appointment of 3 permanent judges in the Bombay 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 Justices (i) Shailesh Pramod Brahme, (ii) Firdosh Phiroze Pooniwalla and (iii) Jitendra Shantilal Jain, Additional Judges of the Bombay High Court, to be Judges of that High Court with effect from the date they assume charge of their respective offices,” said a notification issued by the Union Ministry of Law and Justice.

On February 21, the Supreme Court Collegium, headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna, approved the proposal for the appointment of Justices Brahme, Pooniwalla, and Jain as permanent judges in Bombay HC. Further, it recommended that the term of Justice Manjusha Ajay Deshpande, an Additional Judge, be extended for a year. In a separate notification issued on Tuesday, the Centre said that the President was pleased to extend the term of Justice Deshpande as Additional Judge of the Bombay High Court, for one year w.e.f. August 12, 2025.

The Chief Justice and Judges of the High Courts are to be appointed by the President under clause (1) of Article 217 of the Constitution. The Chief Justice, while sending his recommendation for appointing an additional Judge as a permanent Judge, must, along with his recommendation, furnish statistics of month-wise disposal of cases and judgments rendered by the judge concerned as well as the number of cases reported in the Law Journal duly certified by them. The information would also be furnished regarding the total number of working days, the number of days they actually attended the court and the days of their absence during the period for which the disposal statistics are sent.