Bengaluru: To fill up the vacancies, the Supreme Court Collegium has recommended the names of Justices Dinesh Maheshwari, presently serving as Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court, and Sanjiv Khanna, a Delhi High Court judge, to be appointed as judges of the Supreme Court.
“While recommending the names of Justices Maheshwari and Khanna, the SC Collegium has taken into consideration the combined seniority on all-India basis of chief justices and senior puisne Judges of High Courts, apart from their merit and integrity. The Collegium has also kept in mind the desirability of giving due representation on the Bench of the Supreme Court, as far as possible, to all the High Courts," the collegium states.
Justice Dinesh Maheshwari stands at Sl. No. 21 in the combined seniority of High Court Judges on all-India basis. He was appointed a Judge of the Rajasthan High Court on September 2, 2004 and was transferred to Allahabad High Court on July 19, 2014. He was elevated as Chief Justice of Meghalaya High Court on February 24, 2016 and was thereafter transferred to Karnataka High Court on February 12, 2018, and has been functioning here since then.
Against the sanctioned strength of 31 judges, the Supreme Court of India is presently functioning with 26 Judges, leaving five clear vacancies.
