A view of the Bombay High Court. File
| Photo Credit: Today News 24
Five new judges were sworn in as additional judges of Bombay High Court on Friday. The Ministry of Law and Justice on Wednesday, notified the elevation of five advocates as additional judges of the Bombay High Court.
The five judges — Nivedita Prakash Mehta, Prafulla Surendrakumar Khubalkar, Ashwin Damodar Bhobe, Rohit Wasudeo Joshi, and Advait Mahendra Sethna — were sworn in as additional judges by Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyay.
The new judges will serve for a period of two years starting from Friday, following which their confirmation as permanent judges will be considered.
The Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court had proposed their elevation on January 19. On September 24, the Supreme Court collegium had recommended their names for elevation.
On Wednesday, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Law and Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal announced, “In exercise of the powers conferred by the Constitution of India, the President of India, in consultation with the Chief Justice of India, has appointed the following advocates as additional judges of the Bombay High Court.”
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At present, the Bombay High Court has 28 vacancies for judges. Until Thursday, the total strength of judges at the high court was 64 against a sanctioned strength of 94. With five new judges, the strength at present is 69 judges.
Who are the new judges?
Justice Nivedita Prakash Mehta’s name was recommended for her extensive experience of 31 years in civil-, service-, constitutional-, local-, municipal-, labour-, and criminal laws. The collegium noted, “She represented the Government of Maharashtra at Nagpur Bench in the capacity of Assistant Government Pleader and Additional Public Prosecutor from 2013 to 2023 and has been representing the State Government as an Additional Government Pleader and Additional Public Prosecutor since October 2023. Her elevation would fulfil the need to ensure gender diversity among the high court judges.”
Justice Prafulla Surendrakumar Khubalkar comes with more than 27 years of legal practice. His practice focusses on civil-, constitutional-, service and arbitration matters. He has primarily worked at the Nagpur Bench of the high court. The collegium mentioned that his elevation as a member of the Other Backward Classes community would better the representation of the OBC community in appointing them to the higher judiciary.
Justice Ashwin Damodar Bhobe is noted for delivering 45 judgments. He has been practising for more than 26 years mainly before the Goa Bench of the high court along with district and tribunal courts in Goa.
Justice Rohit Wasudeo Joshi from the Nagpur Bench of the high court comes with more than 26 years of experience with his expertise in civil-, criminal-, constitutional-, labour- and service laws.
Justice Advait Mahendra Sethna comes with more than 20 years of experience at the principal seat of the Bombay High Court. He has represented both the Maharashtra and Central Governments as a panel lawyer, handling cases related to intellectual property, environmental issues, taxation, constitutional law, and the Armed Forces Tribunal.
Published – October 25, 2024 03:06 pm IST