Ajay Digpaul and Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar appointed judges of Delhi High Court
NEW DELHI: Two advocates Ajay Digpaul and Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar were appointed as judges of the Delhi High Court on Monday. Ashish Naithani, a judicial officer, was also appointed as a judge of the Uttarakhand High Court.
Union Minister of State for Law and Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, Arjun Ram Meghwal, took to the micro-blogging site X (formerly known as Twitter) to announce the decision. “In exercise of the power conferred by the Constitution of India, the President of India, after consultation with the Chief Justice of India, is pleased to appoint the following as judges,” he posted, adding, “I convey my best wishes to them.”
The three-member panel of the Supreme Court Collegium consisting of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud (now retired) and Justices Sanjiv Khanna and BR Gavai — had, on August 21 last year, recommended the names of Digpaul and Shankar, along with advocate Shwetasree Majumder, for elevation as judges of the Delhi High Court.
Prior to that, on October 25, 2023, the Chief Justice of Delhi High Court, in consultation with two of his seniormost colleagues, had recommended the names of the three advocates for elevation as judges.
“In order to ascertain the fitness and suitability of these advocates for elevation to the High Court, we have consulted our colleague conversant with the affairs of the Delhi High Court. To assess the merit and suitability of the candidates for elevation, we have scrutinized and evaluated the material placed on record. We have also perused the observations made by the Department of Justice in the file,” the Supreme Court Collegium’s resolution said.
The three-member panel of the Supreme Court Collegium consisting of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud (now retired) and Justices Sanjiv Khanna and BR Gavai had, on August 21 last year, recommended Digpaul and Shankar, along with advocate Shwetasree Majumder, for elevation as judges of the Delhi High Court.