Supreme Court Collegium reiterates recommendation to appoint Harpreet Singh Brar as Punjab and Haryana High Court judge

The Supreme Court Collegium in its meeting on Tuesday reiterated the name of Senior Advocate Harpreet Singh Brar for elevation as a judge of the Punjab & Haryana High Court..In its resolution uploaded on Wednesday, the Collegium stated that the Department of Justice (DoJ) had returned its earlier recommendation of Brar after flagging certain issues.The Collegium then sought fresh inputs about Brar from the High Court Collegium.The High Court Collegium reiterated the name on February 24, after the Chief Justice of India wrote to the High Court's Chief Justice on February 16 regarding Brar's candidature. "By a communication dated February 24, 2023, the Chief Justice of the High Court stated that he had sought the comments of the candidate. The High Court Collegium held a meeting on February 23, 2023 to reconsider the recommendation for the appointment of Shri Harpreet Singh Brar, bearing in mind the observation of the Department of Justice. Upon careful evaluation of the matters which have been noted by the Department of Justice, the High Court Collegium which has been constituted afresh with a new member has arrived at the unanimous view that there was no reason to take a view different from the one taken earlier.".The top court collegium subsequently considered the minutes of the meeting of the High Court Collegium meeting along with the issues flagged by the DoJ. It noted that each of the issues had been dealt with elaborately by the High Court Collegium."At an earlier stage while recommending the name of Shri Brar, the Collegium of the Supreme Court took into consideration the opinion of its consultee-judges. The Collegium has now obtained the opinion of two more consultee-judges who have been appointed as Judges of the Supreme Court recently. In view of the opinion of the consultee-judges of this Court and the report submitted by the Chief Justice of the High Court of Punjab and Haryana along with Minutes of the Collegium and papers enclosed with it, and after examining all aspects of the matter, the Collegium is of the view that Shri Harpreet Singh Brar is fit and suitable for appointment as a Judge of the High Court of Punjab and Haryana," the resolution further said. The Collegium noted that the senior counsel has wide-ranging experience of practice. Accordingly, it reiterated Brar's name and stated that the proposal should be processed at the earliest..[Read Resolution]