VIJAYAWADA: The five-member Supreme Court Collegium, headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, recommended the appointment of Justice Dhiraj Singh Thakur as the Chief Justice of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh.
Recommendations have been made to the Centre to fast-track the process of appointment and fulfil the existing and future vacancies that may arise in the Kerala, Orissa, Manipur, Andhra Pradesh, Bombay, Telangana, and Gujarat High Courts.
Born on April 25, 1964, Justice Thakur was enrolled as an advocate with the Bar Council of Delhi on October 18, 1989. He was designated as Senior Advocate in 2011 and appointed as Permanent Judge of the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir on March 8, 2013. Later, he was transferred as a Judge of the High Court of Judicature in Bombay on June 10, 2022.
Justice Dhiraj Singh Thakur is now the senior-most judge in his parent high court.“He was transferred, in the interest of better administration of justice, to the High Court of Bombay in June 2022 and has been functioning there since then,” the Collegium said.
Pointing out that its recommendation on February 9, 2023, to elevate Justice Thakur as Chief Justice of the Manipur High Court has been pending with the government, the Collegium explained, “In supersession of the recommendation, it resolves to recommend that Justice Dhiraj Singh Thakur be appointed as Chief Justice of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh.”
The office of the Chief Justice of the Andhra Pradesh High Court fell vacant on May 19, 2023, with the elevation of Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra as a judge of the Supreme Court. Subsequently, Justice Akula Venkata Sesha Sai was appointed as Acting Chief Justice of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh.