The Central government on Thursday appointed advocate Somasekhar Sundaresan as an additional judge at the Bombay High Court.
Arjun Ram Meghwal posts development on X
Union Minister of State (independent charge) for Law & Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal posted the development on X (formerly known as Twitter). “In exercise of the power conferred by the Constitution of India, the Hon’ble President of India, after consultation with Hon’ble Chief Justice of India, is pleased to appoint Somasekhar Sundaresan, advocate, as an additional Judge of the Bombay High Court. My best wishes to him,” read the post.
Sundaresan’s name recommended by the SC Collegium
Sundaresan’s name was recommended for elevation by the Supreme Court Collegium headed by the Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud way back in January. In October 2021, the Bombay High Court Collegium had recommended Sunderasan’s name for elevation as a judge. Subsequently, the Supreme Court Collegium also recommended his name in February 2022.
Later, on November 25, 2022, the central government sought reconsideration of Sunderasan’s candidature saying that, “he has aired his views in the social media on several matters which are the subject matter of consideration before the courts.”
Collegium's statement
However, the SC Collegium once again recommended his name for elevation. A statement was issued then by the Collegium stating: “Expression of views by a candidate does not disentitle him to hold a constitutional office so long as the person proposed for judgeship is a person of competence, merit and integrity.”
“The views on social media attributed to the candidate, do not furnish any foundation to infer that he is biased. The issues on which opinions have been attributed to the candidate are in the public domain and have been extensively deliberated upon in the print and electronic media,” it added.
It also said that Sundaresan has specialised in commercial law and would be an asset to the Bombay High Court which has a large volume of cases of commercial and securities laws, among other branches.
Candidate must possess high integrity, honesty, skill,...
Referring to the Department of Justice's reliance on the Second Judges case, the Collegium said the candidate to be selected must possess high integrity, honesty, skill, high order of emotional stability, firmness, serenity, legal soundness, ability and endurance. “The candidate fulfills these qualities,” it added.
Sundaresan's education & career
Sundaresan was a member of the recent Expert Committee constituted by the Supreme Court to review India's regulatory mechanism in the light of Adani-Hindenburg issue.
At present, the Bombay HC functions with 68 judges as against the sanctioned strength of 94.
After completing BCom, Sundaresan studied LLB from Government Law College in Mumbai. He graduated in law in 1996. Later he joined The Times of India as a business journalist where he worked for two and a half years. He started his legal career by joining Udwadia, Udeshi & Berjis and latter moved on to J Sagar Associates. He specilaised in Securities and Financial Sector Regulatory laws.
