Supreme Court Collegium Recommends One-Year Extension for Calcutta High Court Judges

The Supreme Court collegium, led by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, has suggested to extend the terms of nine additional judges at the Calcutta High Court by one year. The resolution follows a recommendation that awaits feedback from the Chief Minister and Governor of West Bengal.

The Supreme Court collegium, under Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, has proposed to the Centre that the terms of nine additional judges at the Calcutta High Court be extended by one year.

In addition to the CJI, Justices Sanjiv Khanna and B R Gavai are part of the collegium responsible for naming high court judges.

The collegium currently refrained from recommending the names of these judges for permanent appointments.

'The Supreme Court Collegium has recommended the names of Justices Biswaroop Chowdhury, Partha Sarathi Sen, Prasenjit Biswas, Uday Kumar, Ajay Kumar Gupta, Supratim Bhattacharya, Partha Sarathi Chatterjee, Apurba Sinha Ray, and Md. Shabbar Rashidi, as Additional Judges of the High Court at Calcutta for a fresh term of one year,' the apex court stated in its resolution.

The high court collegium had unanimously suggested these judges' permanent appointments on April 29.

The Chief Minister and Governor of West Bengal have yet to respond to this recommendation.

'The Department of Justice has forwarded this recommendation by invoking Para 14 of the Memorandum of Procedure, which assumes agreement from the Governor and Chief Minister in the absence of their comments within the prescribed timeframe,' it said.

The SC collegium ensured it consulted Supreme Court judges familiar with the Calcutta High Court to verify the additional judges' suitability for permanent roles.

Upon review, the collegium decided the judges could be appointed to serve an additional one-year term starting August 31, 2024.