On Saturday, the Centre appointed seven judicial officers to serve as judges on the Delhi High Court. This decision comes despite the Supreme Court collegium’s recommendation of eight candidates for the positions. The move raises questions regarding the alignment between government appointments and judicial recommendations.
Bhardwaj is currently serving as the registrar general of the Delhi high court, while Parashar is the secretary general of the Supreme Court. Saxena is the principal district and sessions judge of the Rohini North-West District, while Sharma-I serves as the principal district and sessions judge of the Karkardooma North-East District. Bhatt is the principal district judge-cum-special judge (PC Act) (CBI) at the Rouse Avenue Courts. Two judicial officers –Nivedita Anil Sharma and Dr Choudhary – have retired.
The Supreme Court collegium on September 10 notified the names of eight judicial officers, Nivedita Anil Sharma, Nisha Sahay Saxena, Sanjay Sharma-I, Bharat Parashar, Dr Aditi Choudhary, Dinesh Bhatt, Arun Bhardwaj and Gurvinder Pal Singh. With the Centre’s approval, the high court, which is currently functioning with a strength of 44 against a sanctioned strength of 60, will have 51 judges.
Their names along with Gurvinder Pal Singh’s name, according to people familiar with the development, had earlier been recommended by the Delhi high court collegium for elevation to the high court.
