New Delhi: Chief Justice of Gauhati High Court Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia and Gujarat High Court judge Justice Jamshed B. Pardiwala on Monday took oath as judges to the Supreme Court.
During a function held at the auditorium of the additional building complex of the top court, Chief Justice N.V. Ramana administered the oath of office to justices Dhulia and Pardiwala. After these appointments, the top court will have full strength of 34 judges, which had come down to 32 after the retirement of Justice R. Subhash Reddy on January 4 this year. However, this ideal situation would last for just two days as Justice Vineet Saran, a sitting judge, will superannuate on May 10.
According to the top court sources familiar with procedure, Justice Pardiwala would go on to serve as the Chief Justice of India for over two years.
The elevation of Justice Dhulia makes him the second judge to be elevated to the top court from the Uttarakhand High Court, and he is sibling of national award-winning film director and actor Tigmanshu Dhulia.
Hailing from Madanpur, a remote village located in Pauri Garhwal district of Uttarakhand, he is an alumni of Sainik School, Lucknow, and completed his graduation and law degree from the Allahabad university.
A second generation legal professional, Justice Dhulia joined the Bar at Allahabad High Court in 1986 and shifted to his home state Uttarakhand on its formation in 2000.
He was the first Chief Standing Counsel in the Uttarakhand High Court and was later appointed an Additional Advocate General for Uttarakhand. He was designated as a senior advocate in 2004 and was elevated as the judge of Uttarakhand High Court in November 2008. Later, he became the Chief Justice of the High Court of Assam, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Arunachal Pradesh on January 10, 2021.
Justice Pardiwala was born on August 12, 1965, in Mumbai. He completed his schooling from St. Joseph Convent school in his home town Valsad in south Gujarat. He graduated from the J.P. Arts College, Valsad, and received a law degree from the K.M. Mulji Law College, Valsad, in 1988.
Starting to practice law in the Gujarat High Court in 1990, he was elected as a member of the Gujarat Bar Council in 1994. He was appointed as the Standing Counsel for the Gujarat High Court in 2002 and held the office till his elevation to the bench on February 17, 2011. Justice Pardiwala has nearly 1,012 reportable judgements on varied subjects.
–IANS