The Supreme Court collegium has recommended three
judicial officers for appointment as judges of the Delhi High Court.
The collegium, headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y.
Chandrachud and comprising Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and K.M. Joseph, in its
recommendation dated April 12, recommended the elevation of Girish Kathpalia,
Dharmesh Sharma, and Manoj Jain, as Judges of the High Court of Delhi.
A statement uploaded on apex court's website said:
"On 22 December 2022, the Chief Justice of the High Court of Delhi in
consultation with his two senior-most colleagues recommended the elevation of
judicial officers as judges of the High Court of Delhi. The file was received
in the Supreme Court from the Department of Justice on 07 April 2023."
The collegium said for the purpose of assessing the
merit and suitability of the above-named judicial officers for elevation to the
High Court of Delhi, "we have scrutinised and evaluated the material
placed on record including the observations made by the Department of Justice
and certain complaints/representations placed before us".
On Kathpalia, the collegium said the Judgment
Evaluation Committee has graded judgments authored by him as
"outstanding" and he is the senior-most member of the Delhi Higher
Judicial Service. "The Intelligence Bureau (IB) has reported that he has a
good personal and professional image and that nothing adverse has come to
notice against his integrity. We have considered the opinion of
consultee-Judges with regard to his suitability for elevation... the Collegium
is of the considered opinion that Girish Kathpalia is fit and suitable for
appointment as a Judge of the High Court of Delhi", it added.
On Sharma, the collegium said the inputs of the IB
are evaluated in conjunction with the opinion of consultee judges who have with
their long years of experience in the High Court of Delhi observed the conduct
and work performance of the officer and the Judgment Evaluation Committee has
graded judgments authored by him as "outstanding".
"In view of the above and on an overall
consideration of the proposal for his elevation, the Collegium is of the
considered opinion that Dharmesh Sharma is suitable for appointment as a Judge
of the High Court of Delhi", it added.
On Jain, the collegium said the IB has reported that
he has a good personal and professional image and that nothing adverse has come
to notice against his integrity. "In view of the above, the Collegium is
of the considered opinion that Manoj Jain is suitable for appointment as a
Judge of the High Court of Delhi," it added.
The collegium further added, "While considering
the above proposal, the Collegium has also taken note of the fact that the
above proposal involves non-recommendation of a senior Judicial Officer. In this
regard, we have gone through Minutes of the High Court Collegium, which has
duly recorded reasons for not recommending the name of the Judicial Officer. We
are in agreement with the justification given by the High Court Collegium in
its Minutes for not recommending the senior Judicial Officer".