NEW DELHI: The Central government on Thursday notified the appointments of six additional judges as permanent judges of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju, in a tweet, said: "As per the provisions under the Constitution of India, the following Additional Judges are appointed as Permanent Judges of Punjab and Haryana High Court: Vikas Bahl, Vikas Suri, Sandeep Moudgil, Vinod Sharma (Bhardwaj), Pankaj Jain, and Jasjit Singh Bedi."
Earlier this month, the collegium headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud and comprising Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and K.M. Joseph said: "The Collegium resolves to recommend that Justices (i) Vikas Bahl, (ii) Vikas Suri, (iii) Sandeep Moudgil, (iv) Vinod Sharma (Bhardwaj), (v) Pankaj Jain, and (vi) Jasjit Singh Bedi, Additional Judges, be appointed as Permanent Judges of the High Court of Punjab and Haryana against the existing vacancies. Since the current two-year term of one of the Additional Judges is due to expire on 24 May 2023, the above recommendation may be processed expeditiously."
The collegium took the decisions in its meeting on April 17.
It said that on December 19, 2022, the collegium of the High Court of Punjab and Haryana unanimously recommended the additional judges whose names are set out above for appointment as permanent judges of that high court. The collegium said the recommendations have the concurrence of the Chief Ministers and the Governors of Punjab and Haryana, and have been received from the Department of Justice on April 13, 2023.
"The Committee constituted in terms of the Resolution dated 26th October, 2017 of the Supreme Court Collegium to evaluate the Judgments of the above-named Additional Judges, has submitted its report," it said.