NEW DELHI, Feb 12 (PTI): Four judges, including two who will retire later this month, were on Sunday appointed as chief justices of high courts.
Justice Sonia Giridhar Gokani, the senior-most judge of the Gujarat High Court, was appointed its chief justice. Once she takes oath, she will be the only woman chief justice of a high court at present. India has 25 high courts.
Another woman judge, Justice Sabina, is functioning as the acting chief justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court.
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However, Justice Gokani will demit office on February 25 upon attaining the age of 62. She has been drawn from the judicial service of Gujarat.
“Besides being the senior-most judge, the appointment of Justice Gokani as chief justice will bring a sense of inclusion and facilitate a representation for judges drawn from the services in the office of chief justice,” the Supreme Court Collegium had said last week while recommending her name.
The Collegium had asked the government to “immediately” appoint her as the chief justice following the elevation of Justice Aravind Kumar, the high court chief justice till now, as a judge of the Supreme Court.
He was elevated to the top court on Friday.
Justice Jaswant Singh, the senior-most judge of the Orissa High Court, was appointed as the chief justice of the Tripura High Court. Justice Singh is due to retire on February 22.
The office of the Tripura High Court chief justice has been lying vacant for some time following the retirement of Justice Indrajit Mahanty.
The Supreme Court Collegium had recommended the elevation of Justice Singh as head of the Tripura High Court on January 25.
The Collegium had earlier recommended that Justice Singh be appointed as chief justice of the Orissa High Court. The recommendation was recalled later and his name was proposed as head of the Tripura High Court.
While Supreme Court judges retire at 65, high court judges demit office on attaining the age of 62 years.
Justice Sandeep Mehta, Judge, Rajasthan High Court has been appointed as chief justice of the Gauhati High Court while Justice N Kotiswar Singh, Judge, Gauhati High Court has been made chief justice of the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. Law minister Kiren Rijiju had tweeted to announce the fresh appointments.
