The Supreme Court Collegium headed by Chief Justice of India Sharad Bobade on Friday recommended names of nine advocates and four judicial officers to be elevated as judges of the Bombay High Court.
The recommendation has been forwarded to the Union government for its final nod to the proposal.
As per the resolution of the Collegium, the names of advocates Aruna Kamat-Pai, Shailesh Brahme, Kamal Khata, Sharmila Deshmukh, Amira Razaq, Sandeep Marne, Sandeep Parikh, Somasekhar Sundaresean and Mahendra Nerlikar have been shortlisted.
Among these advocates, Kamat-Pai is a public prosecutor while advocates Deshmukh and Marne usually appear for pollution control boards and Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) respectively.
The resolution further mentions names of Rajesh Laddha, Sanjay Mehare, G A Sanap and S G Dighe, all judicial officers to be elevated as HC judges.
Judge G A Sanap presided over the special TADA court and had conducted trial in the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts case and even pronounced the verdict in the case. The same judge even heard the 26/11 blasts case matter before his transfer as a principal judge to Jalgaon district in 2018.
Notably, the total sanctioned strength of the HC that has benches at Aurangabad, Nagpur and Goa, is 94 but is presently functioning with 63 judges. The HC presently has 31 vacancies and more seats might fall vacant by the end of this year till when some sitting judges retire.
