Mumbai: The Centre on Tuesday appointed 14 advocates as additional judges of the Bombay High court, including Raj Damodar Wakode, who is related to Chief Justice of India Bhushan R Gavai. Wakode, son of the CJI’s cousin, is considered a nephew of Justice Gavai.
Supreme Court Collegium Recommendations
The Supreme Court collegium in its meeting held on August 19 has recommended names of 14 advocates as judges of the Bombay HC.
The collegium headed by CJI had recommended Siddheshwar Thombre, Mehroz Ashraf Khan Pathan, Ranjitsinha Bhonsale, Sandesh Patil, Shreeram Shirsat, Hiten Venegavkar, Rajnish Vyas and Raj Wakode.
In another notification uploaded on SC website, it states that the collegium has also recommended advocates Nandesh Deshpande, Amit Jamsandekar, Ashish Chavan, Vaishali Patil-Jadhav, Abasaheb Shinde and Farhan Dubash to be elevated as HC judges.
Experienced Advocates Representing Central Agencies
Advocates Patil, Shirsat, Venegavkar and Chavan have represented central agencies like the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in several profile cases. Currently, Venegavkar is the chief public prosecutor at the HC.
Recent Swearing-In and HC Strength
Last week, three advocates Aarti Sathe, Ajit Kadethankar and Sushil Ghodeswar, were sworn as HC judges. Sathe’s recommendation was questioned by the Congress as she was spokesperson of BJP. The state BJP, however, had clarified that Sathe had resigned from the party.
The HC currently has a total of 69 judges. The sanctioned strength of the HC is 94. One they are sworn in as judges, the HC will have a working strength of 83 judges, the highest in all these years.
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Elevations to Top Court
Meanwhile, the Collegium has recommended the name of CJ Alok Aradhe of HC for elevation to the top court. It has also recommended the name of Justice Shree Chandrashekhar, second senior most judge of HC, for elevation as chief justice of HC.
