The Supreme Court Collegium, headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud, has recommended the appointment of four advocates and five judicial officers as judges of the Madhya Pradesh High Court.
The recommendation for appointment of advocates Vinay Saraf, Vivek Jain, Ashish Shroti and Amit Seth as judges was made on November 11 last year by the Chief Justice of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh in consultation with his two senior-most colleagues.
Similarly, recommendation for appointment of judicial officers Rajendra Kumar Vani, Pramod Kumar Agrawal, Binod Kumar Dwivedi, Devnarayan Mishra, and Gajendra Singh was made on May 11 and August 9 this year.
In relation to judicial officers, the Chief Minister and the Governor have concurred with the recommendations while the SC Collegium has taken note of the views of the constitutional functionaries placed in the file about the suitability or otherwise of these advocates.
"For the purpose of assessing the merit and suitability of the above candidates for elevation to the High Court, we have scrutinised and evaluated the material placed on record including the observations made by the Department of Justice in the file as well as the complaints received, " said the SC Collegium.
It added that it has consulted colleagues conversant with the affairs of the Madhya Pradesh High Court to ascertain the fitness and suitability of these advocates for elevation.
"The Collegium resolves to recommend that S/Shri (i) Vinay Saraf, (ii) Vivek Jain, (iii) Ashish Shroti, and (iv) Amit Seth, Advocates be appointed as Judges of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh. Their inter se seniority be fixed as per the existing practice, " read the statement uploaded on the website of the apex court late on Tuesday.
Another statement said: "The Collegium resolves to recommend that S/Shri (i) Rajendra Kumar Vani, (ii) Pramod Kumar Agrawal, (iii) Binod Kumar Dwivedi, (iv) Devnarayan Mishra and (v) Gajendra Singh, Judicial Officers, be appointed as Judges of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh. Their inter se seniority be fixed as per the existing practice."