NEW DELHI, Apr 16
The Supreme Court collegium headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud on Tuesday recommended to the Centre the name of an advocate for appointment as a judge of the Kerala High Court.
As per one of the resolutions uploaded on the apex court website, the collegium also recommended that additional judges — Justices Jaggannagari Sreenivasa Rao and Namavarapu Rajeshwar Rao — be appointed as permanent judges of the High Court for the State of Telangana against the existing vacancies.
Another uploaded resolution said the collegium, also comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and B R Gavai, has recommended the name of advocate Sreeja Vijayalakshmi for appointment as a judge of the Kerala High Court. “The recommendation for appointment of the above candidate as judge of the High Court of Kerala was made by the collegium of the high court on December 5, 2023,” the resolution said. “On March 12, 2024, consideration of the recommendation was deferred with a view to seek a report from the Chief Justice of the High Court of Kerala in consultation with members of the high court collegium on the suitability of the candidate in light of the inputs placed by the Department of Justice in the file,” it said.
The resolution said the chief justice of the Kerala High Court, by a letter dated March 21, forwarded his report in response to a communication addressed to him by the CJI, after consultation with the members of the high court collegium on the suitability of the candidate. “The members of the collegium of the high court have the benefit of hearing the arguments of the candidate under consideration and of assessing her performance and antecedents. The inputs furnished by the Department of Justice in the file have been duly considered by the collegium of the high court in pursuance of the earlier resolution of the collegium of the Supreme Court,” it said.
It said in terms of the Memorandum of Procedure, the apex court judges conversant with the affairs of the Kerala High Court were consulted in order to ascertain the fitness and suitability of the candidate.
“The Chief Minister and the Governor for the State of Kerala have conveyed their concurrence to the above recommendation,” the resolution said, adding, “The collegium, therefore, is of the considered view that Sreeja Vijayalakshmi is fit and suitable for appointment as judge of the High Court of Kerala”.
