Punjab and Haryana High Court Gets Ten New Permanent Judges

Punjab and Haryana High Court Gets Ten New Permanent Judges

The Central Government has approved the appointment of ten additional judges of the Punjab and Haryana High Court as Permanent Judges. The Ministry of Law and Justice issued a notification to this effect on March 10.

The newly appointed permanent judges include Justices Kuldeep Tiwari, Gurbir Singh, Deepak Gupta, Amarjot Bhatti, Ritu Tagore, Manisha Batra, Harpreet Kaur Jeewan, Sukhvinder Kaur, Sanjiv Berry, and Vikram Aggarwal.

Earlier, the Collegium of the High Court had recommended their permanent status on October 6, 2023. However, the Chief Ministers and Governors of Punjab and Haryana had not conveyed their views on the matter. Consequently, the Union Department of Justice forwarded the recommendation to the Supreme Court Collegium.

Supreme Court judges, who were familiar with the workings of the specific High Court, unanimously agreed that all the judges were suitable for confirmation as permanent judges. A two-judge committee assessed the candidates’ judgments and rated them as “very good/good.”

Subsequently, on February 13, the Supreme Court Collegium reviewed all relevant material and recommended the appointment of these 10 judges as permanent members of the High Court.

As of March 1, 2024, the Punjab and Haryana High Court operated with 55 judges, although its sanctioned strength was 85. Among the 55 judges, 41 held permanent positions, while 14 served as additional judges.