New Delhi: The Supreme Court Collegium, headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI), D.Y. Chandrachud, has recommended the extension of term of nine additional judges of the Calcutta High Court for a year.
In April this year, the Collegium of the Calcutta High Court (HC) forwarded its unanimous recommendation to appoint Justices Biswaroop Chowdhury, Partha Sarathi Sen, Prasenjit Biswas, Uday Kumar, Ajay Kumar Gupta, Supratim Bhattacharya, Partha Sarathi Chatterjee, Apurba Sinha Ray, and Md. Shabbar Rashidi as a permanent judge.
The Supreme Court Collegium said that it consulted other judges of the apex court who are conversant with the affairs of the Calcutta HC to ascertain their suitability, adding that the committee of two judges of the Supreme Court constituted by the CJI assessed the judgments of these additional judges.
After scrutinising and evaluating the material placed on record and having considered all aspects of the matter, the Supreme Court Collegium found that these additional judges deserve a fresh term of one year starting from August 31, 2024.
“The Chief Minister and the Governor of the State of West Bengal have not conveyed their views on the above recommendation. The Department of Justice has forwarded the above recommendation by invoking Para 14 of the Memorandum of Procedure which provides that if the comments of the Constitutional authorities in the State are not received within the prescribed time frame, it should be presumed by the Minister of Law and Justice that the Governor and the Chief Minister have nothing to add to the proposal and proceed accordingly,” said a statement released on the website of the apex court.
–IANS