Judiciary Watch: #Collegium to resume appointments, 7 High Courts likely to get Chief Justices

After nine months of inaction, the Collegium is ready to make appointments to the higher judiciary again, reports Hindustan Times..In a meeting convened last week, the five-member collegium comprising the Chief Justice of India, TS Thakur, and four senior most judges of the apex court reportedly agreed to start the process without necessarily waiting for the Centre to prepare a fresh memorandum of procedure (MoP)..The National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) was notified by the Centre in April 2015, only to be struck down by the Supreme Court in October of last year. During this period, the vacancies in the higher judiciary have been building steadily..As of now, the vacancies at high courts across the country stand at 445, or close to 43%, with two judges retiring on the first day of the year. Two more judges of the Gauhati High Court are due to retire later this month..Over the last nine months, a number of Chief Justices have also retired. To make up for the void created by these retirements, the President has been forced to evoke Article 223 of the Constitution. As of today, eight High Courts are headed by an Acting Chief Justice..But this is about to change..According to reliable sources, the next few weeks will see the appointment of Chief Justices to a number of High Courts..Jayant Patel J., acting Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court is likely to be transferred to the Karnataka High Court, while Subhash Reddy J. of the High Court of Judicature at Hyderabad will take his place as Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court..The Karnataka High Court will see another transfer, with Vineet Saran J. being elevated as Chief Justice of the Orissa High Court, while the current Chief Justice, DH Waghela going to the Bombay High Court as Chief Justice..Acting Chief Justice of the Rajasthan High Court Ajit Singh J. is likely to be appointed as Chief Justice of the Gauhati High Court. SK Mittal J. from the Punjab & Haryana High Court will take his place as Chief Justice of the Rajasthan High Court..Dinesh Maheshwari J. of the Allahabad High Court will be elevated as Chief Justice of the Meghalaya High Court..On a related note, the Madras High Court has decided to increase its working strength from 60 to 75. Presently, the High Court has only 37 working judges, meaning that more than half of the posts are lying vacant.