Orissa Chief Justice Amitava Roy recommended for elevation to Supreme Court

The Supreme Court Collegium headed by Chief Justice HL Dattu has recommended the name of Orissa High Court Chief Justice Amitava Roy for elevation to the Supreme Court, reports Asian Age..Justice Roy is due to retire from High Court on February 28 and it is doubtful whether the appointment will come through..Justice Roy enrolled as an advocate in 1976 and practised before the District courts of Dibrugarh and Tinsukia and later before the Gauhati High Court. He was designated Senior Advocate by the Gauhati High Court in 1999 and was appointed judge of the Gauhati High Court in 2002. Roy was elevated as Chief Justice of the Rajasthan High Court in 2013 and was appointed Chief Justice of Orissa High Court in 2014..There have been lot of speculations about judicial appointments since the National Judicial Appointments Commission Act got the assent of the President of India. While Law Minister Sadananda Gowda had stated that no judicial appointments would be made till the Supreme Court decides the fate of the petitions challenging the Constitutionality of the NJAC, the Collegium has continued to meet and discuss fresh appointments..The news report in Asian Age, however, states that Gowda has clarified that the Collegium could make recommendations to fill up the three existing vacancies in the Supreme Court..For the last few weeks, names of various judges have been doing rounds for elevation to Supreme Court. According to sources, the names of Madras High Court Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Delhi High Court Chief Justice G Rohini and Bombay High Court Chief Justice Mohit Shah were discussed by the Collegium for filling up the remaining vacancies..Senior Advocate Dushyant Dave had strongly opposed the elevation of Justice Mohit Shah on the ground that Justice Shah’s conduct is “unbecoming of a judge”. Dave had also written two letters to the CJI opposing Justice Shah’s candidature..Image taken from here.