13 judges appointed to 4 high courts

Six advocates and seven judicial officers were on Thursday appointed as judges in four high courts, days after a Supreme Court bench said delays in appointments discourage lawyers from moving to the Bench.

Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal took to X to announce the fresh appointments.

While seven judges have been appointed to the Madhya Pradesh High Court, three were appointed in the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

Similarly, two were appointed to the Patna HC while one was elevated to the Gauhati High Court.

Last month, 11 judicial officers and six advocates were appointed as judges in eight high courts, including Delhi.

On October 20, a top court bench had told the Centre that its tendency to ''pick and choose'' was creating a lot of problems.

The top court said in the appointment process, when the government appoints somebody and doesn't appoint others, the ''very premise of seniority gets disturbed''.

''This pick and choose creates a lot of problems,'' observed Justice S K Kaul, who is also a member of the apex court collegium.