NEW DELHI: The Union government on Saturday notified the appointment of eight Chief Justices to various High Courts, including the Madras High Court. The appointments came after the collegium amended some of its July 11 recommendations.
The appointments come a day after a Supreme Court bench said that its collegium was not a “search committee” and asked Attorney General R Venkataramani to submit a report on the status of the names that were reiterated for appointment as judges but were yet to be cleared by the Centre.
Arjun Ram Meghwal, the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Law and Justice, announced the appointments via 'X'. "In exercise of the powers conferred by the Constitution of India, the President is pleased to appoint/transfer 8 Chief Justices of High Courts," he wrote.
The judges appointed as Chief Justices of various state high courts are as follows:
Justice Manmohan (currently Acting Chief Justice of Delhi High Court) - appointed as Chief Justice of Delhi High Court.
Justice Rajiv Shakdher (currently Judge of Delhi High Court) - appointed as Chief Justice of Himachal Pradesh High Court.
Justice Suresh Kumar Kait (Judge of Delhi High Court) - appointed as Chief Justice of Madhya Pradesh High Court.
Justice Indra Prasanna Mukerji (Judge of Calcutta High Court) - appointed as Chief Justice of Meghalaya High Court.
Justice Nitin Madhukar Jamdar (Judge of Bombay High Court) - appointed as Chief Justice of Kerala High Court.
Justice Tashi Rabstan (Judge of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court) - appointed as Chief Justice of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court.
Justice K.R. Shriram (Judge of Bombay High Court) - appointed as Chief Justice of Madras High Court.
Justice M.S. Ramachandra Rao (currently Chief Justice of Himachal Pradesh High Court) - appointed as Chief Justice of Jharkhand High Court
Additionally, three judicial officers have been appointed as Additional Judges of Madras High Court. They are Ms. R. Poornima, M. Jothiraman, and Dr. Augustine Devadoss Maria Clete.
Justice K.R. Shriram, born in Mumbai, completed his B.Com in Financial Accountancy and Management and his LL.B. from Mumbai University. He later pursued an LL.M. in Maritime Law from King's College, London, graduating with merit.
He enrolled as an Advocate with the Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa on 3 July 1986 and joined the chambers of S. Venkiteswaran, Senior Advocate. In 1997, he established his own chambers, focusing on commercial matters with specialisation in shipping and international trade law, as well as writ matters arising from various acts including Ports Acts, Customs Act, Motor Vehicles Act, and Marine Insurance.
Justice Shriram has represented clients in the Bombay High Court, the Supreme Court, and various High Courts across India.
He has also appeared before the National and State Consumer Disputes Redressal Forums, Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal, Securities Appellate Tribunal, Company Law Board, and in various arbitrations.
His experience includes conducting trials in civil suits, statutory inquiries under the Merchant Shipping Act, engineering construction arbitration, and consumer redressal disputes.