Twenty-six former High Court judges designated as seniors by Supreme Court

The Supreme Court of India has designated twenty-six retired High Court judges as Senior Advocates, following a decision taken in a full court meeting held on August 31 this year..The list includes four each from the Allahabad High Court and the Punjab & Haryana High Court. There is one judge each from the High Courts of Meghalaya, Jammu & Kashmir, Gujarat, Madras, Calcutta, Bombay and Chhattisgarh, three from Delhi and Patna, two each from the Madhya Pradesh High Court and the High Court of Judicature at Hyderabad, and one from the High Court of Andhra Pradesh..Even though the former judges have been designated, there have been no designations from the Bar. This is due to a petition filed by Senior Advocate Indira Jaising challenging the current method followed for designating Senior Advocates. The former ASG has alleged that the designation process is opaque and unfair..In response, the Supreme Court had contended that the court’s process for designation was objective and fair. At the same time, the court had also accepted that it had not laid down any specific criteria nor detailed procedure for designation..Below is the list of 26 retired High Court judges designated as Seniors by Supreme Court.