SC collegium recommends appointment of Justice Tashi Rabstan as Chief Justice J&K and Ladakh High Court

New Delhi, Sep 17: The Supreme Court Collegium on Tuesday recommended afresh to the Centre the appointment of Chief Justices of the High Courts of Meghalaya, Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, Madhya Pradesh, and Himachal Pradesh.

The SC Collegium, headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud, recommended that Justice Indra Prasanna Mukerji be appointed as Chief Justice of the Meghalaya High Court.

Justice Mukerji, who was appointed as a judge in May 2009, is the senior most puisne judge of the Calcutta HC.

"While recommending his name, the Collegium is conscious of the fact that the High Court at Calcutta is represented by a Judge in the Supreme Court of India and a Chief Justice among the Chief Justices of the High Courts," said a statement uploaded on the website of the apex court.

The SC Collegium also recommended that Justice Tashi Rabstan be appointed as Chief Justice of the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court. Earlier, it had recommended that Justice Rabstan be appointed as Chief Justice of the Meghalaya HC.

Justice Rabstan, who was appointed as a judge in March 2013, is the seniormost puisne Judge of the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh HC.

"Mr Justice Tashi Rabstan belongs to Ladakh and would be the first Chief Justice from the region of Ladakh which has otherwise little or no representation among the Judges of the High Courts and no representation at all so far in the office of Chief Justice. Besides belonging to Ladakh, he is a Buddhist and belongs to the Bot Scheduled Tribe and his appointment will bring diversity in the office of Chief Justices of the High Courts," the SC Collegium said.

The SC Collegium resolved to recommend that Justice Suresh Kumar Kait be appointed as Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court.

Justice Kait, who was appointed as a judge in September 2008, is the senior puisne judge of the Delhi High Court and ranks at serial no 5 in the All India Seniority list of high court Judges, including Chief Justices.

"He (Justice Kait) is senior to the seniormost Judge in the High Court of Madhya Pradesh, namely, Mr Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva, Acting Chief Justice of that High Court. The Collegium, therefore, in supersession of its earlier recommendation made on 11 July 2024, recommends that Mr Justice Suresh Kumar Kait be appointed as Chief Justice of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh,” the SC Collegium said.

Further, it recommended that Justice G.S. Sandhawalia be appointed as the Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court on the retirement of Justice Rajiv Shakdher on October 18 this year. Justice Sandhawalia, who was appointed as a judge in September 2011, is the seniormost puisne Judge of the High Court of Punjab and Haryana.

The SC Collegium said that its latest resolution will not affect the recommendations made earlier in respect of Justices Manmohan, Rajiv Shakdher, Nitin Madhukar Jamdar, and K.R. Shriram. (IANS)