BHUBANESHWAR: The Supreme Court collegium has recommended to the Centre the name of a judicial officer for his elevation as a judge of Orissa High Court.
The collegium, headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, cleared the proposal for appointment of judicial officer Dr Akshaya Kumar Mishra as a judge of High Court. Other members of the collegium comprised senior judges Justice B Lokur and Kurian Joseph.
Sources said apart from Mishra, the names of three other judicial officers - Bibhu Prasad Routray, Gautam Sharma and Satyanarayan Mishra were also sent for consideration. The proposal made by the then Chief Justice of Orissa High Court on May 18 has the concurrence of the Chief Minister and Governor.
The Collegium is said to have carefully scrutinised the materials placed on record, including the observations made by the Department of Justice, for assessing merit and suitability of the proposed recommended for elevation to the High Court.
As Bibhu Prasad, Gautam and Satyanarayan did not qualify the prevailing norms of eligibility, the collegium was of the considered view that the proposal in respect of the three recommenders deserved to be sent back to the Chief Justice of the High Court for reconsideration by the present HC collegium at the appropriate time.
After a thorough interaction and verification of all relevant documents and factors in respect to Mishra, the collegium resolved that he is suitable for elevation for appointment as a judge of the Orissa High Court. "Judicial officer Mishra be appointed as a judge of Orissa High Court against the service vacancy that occurred on January 23, 2015," it stated.
In another proposal, names of Rudra Prasad Kar, Pranaya Kishore Harichandan, Kali Prasanna Mishra, Bimbisar Dash, Narasingha V, Tushar Kanti Satpathy, Bishnu Prasad Pradhan and Sameer Kumar Das were sent for consideration.
The SC collegium, however, resolved that the proposal in respect of Mishra deserved to be deferred and taken up after some time for consideration while the proposal for Narasingha be sent back to the HC for reconsideration by the HC collegium. The proposal for the rest, however, be remitted since they do not qualify the existing norms, it added.
Names of three other judicial officers - Bibhu Prasad Routray, Gautam Sharma and Satyanarayan Mishra were also sent for consideration