Supreme Court Collegium recommends four justices for elevation to bolster bench strength ahead of retirements

The Supreme Court Collegium on Tuesday recommended the elevation of four high court chief justices to the top court. The collegium decided to promote justices MR Shah, Ajay Rastogi, Hemant Gupta and R Subhash Reddy after taking into consideration seniority, merit and geographical representation,  Bar and Bench reported. According to ANI, the resolution of the Supreme Court Collegium, comprising Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi and justices Madan Lokur, Kurian Joseph, AK Sikri and SA Bobde, said: “Against the sanctioned strength of 31 judges, the Supreme Court of India is presently functioning with 24 judges, leaving seven clear vacancies.” The recommendations have been sent to the government. [caption id=“attachment_4900541” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of the Supreme Court of India. AP[/caption] MR Shah: Shah is presently at the helm of the Patna High Court, after his transfer from the Gujarat High Court in August. He practiced in the Gujarat High Court after his enrolment in 1982. He served as an additional standing counsel for the central government and has also appeared for the Central Bureau of Investigation. His practice includes constitutional, central excise and customs law. He was appointed an additional judge of the Gujarat High Court in March 2004, and his appointment was made permanent in 2005. Hemant Gupta: Justice Hemant Gupta was Punjab’s additional advocate general before being appointed a judge at the Punjab and Haryana High Court in 2002. He was transferred to the Patna High Court in 2016. Gupta was made acting chief justice of the court until his appointment to the Madhya Pradesh High Court on 18 March, 2017. Ajay Rastogi: Justice Ajay Rastogi served as the Chief Justice of Rajasthan High Court for a month before being appointed the Chief Justice of Tripura High Court. He enrolled at the Bar in March 1982 and practised in the Rajasthan High Court. He became a judge of the Rajasthan High Court in September 2004. R Subhash Reddy: Reddy has been serving as the Chief Justice of Gujarat High Court since February 2016. He hails from a family of farmers in Telangana’s Medak district. Following his enrolment in 1980, Justice Reddy’s areas of practice includes civil, criminal and constitutional law. He was elevated as an additional judge of the Andhra Pradesh High Court in December 2002 and was sworn in as a permanent judge of the high court in 2004. According to the  Hindustan Times, the collegium sent the recommendations to the government as justices Madan Lokur and Kurian Joseph, who are both members of the collegium, are due to retire later this year. Joseph retires in November, and Lokur in December. Justice AK Sikri retires in March. The last appointments of Supreme Court judges were made in August, when Justice Indira Banerjee, Justice Vineet Saran and Justice KM Joseph were sworn in.