Collegium approves judges for Gauhati, Orissa, Chhattisgarh High Courts

The Supreme Court Collegium, headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant, on August 18 approved appointments of judges for three High Courts. For the Gauhati High Court, the Collegium recommended advocate Nchumbemo Mozhui and judicial officer Helen Dawngliani. For the Orissa High Court, it recommended advocates Sasmita Tripathy, Aditya Narayan Das, Rajjeet Roy and Gautam Misra. For the Chhattisgarh High Court, judicial officers Santosh Sharma, Sushma Sawant and Sudhir Kumar were approved for elevation.

The appointments are subject to notification by the central government. Barandbench.com noted that the Orissa High Court has only 17 active judges against a sanctioned strength of 33, with two more judges retiring this year. The Chhattisgarh High Court has 13 judges against a sanctioned strength of 22. In a separate recommendation from May, the Collegium has proposed Justice Meenakshi M Rai of the Sikkim High Court as the next Chief Justice of the Patna High Court, following the incumbent's retirement on June 4.