Collegium recommends nine names, including 3 woman judges, to Centre for appointment as SC judges
New Delhi, Aug 18: The Supreme Court Collegium headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) N V Ramana is understood to have ended the nearly-two-year-long logjam by recommending nine names for appointment as judges in the apex court, sources said.
With the retirement of Justice R F Nariman on August 12, the strength of judges in the top court had come down to 25 as against the sanctioned strength of 34, including the CJI. Significantly, no appointment has been made after the superannuation of the then CJI Ranjan Gogoi on March 19, 2019.
Sources said that the five-member collegium, which also comprises Justices U U Lalit, A M Khanwilkar, D Y Chandrachud and L Nageswara Rao, has sent three names of woman judges, including Justice B V Nagarathna from the Karnataka High Court who could become the first woman CJI.
According to the people familiar with the development, besides Justice Nagarathna , two other women judges picked for the appointment are Justice Hima Kohli, the Chief Justice of Telangana High Court, and Justice Bela Trivedi, a Gujarat High Court judge.
The collegium is also understood to have selected senior advocate and former Additional Solicitor General P S Narasimha for direct appointment from the Bar.
The other names, as per sources, are Justices Abhay Shreeniwas Oka (Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court), Vikram Nath (Chief Justice of Gujarat High Court), Jitendra Kumar Maheshwari (Chief Justice of Sikkim High Court), C T Ravi Kumar (a judge in Kerala High Court) and M M Sundersh (also a judge in Kerala High Court).
The recommendations, if accepted, will fill all current vacancies taking the working strength to 33.
One additional vacancy would arise on Wednesday, when Justice Navin Sinha retires.
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Bengaluru: Four arrested for housebreaking, threats, extortion; fake PSI among accused
Bengaluru: Vidyaranyapura police have arrested four persons, including a man posing as a Police Sub-Inspector (PSI), for allegedly breaking into a house, threatening the occupants, and extorting money while wearing police uniforms.
The arrested accused have been identified as Mallikarjuna, Pramod, Vinay, and Hrithik.
Police said the accused had hatched a plan to pose as police personnel, conduct fake raids, and extort money from residents by intimidation.
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According to the police, Mallikarjuna had failed the PSI examination twice and later falsely projected himself as a PSI. He allegedly conducted photo shoots in his hometown, Siraguppa, wearing a police uniform, baton, cap, and shoes, claiming to be serving as a PSI in Bengaluru.
On December 7, the four accused allegedly went to the house of Naveen in the Vidyaranyapura limits, threatened him with a stick and an iron rod, and claimed they had information that he was selling ganja. Under the pretext of searching, they allegedly extorted ₹87,000 through bank transfer, ₹53,000 in cash kept in the house, and ₹2,000 from his wallet.
Following Naveen’s complaint, Vidyaranyapura police registered a case and launched an operation, leading to the arrest of all four accused. Police have seized ₹45,000 in cash and the car used to commit the crime.
Further investigation is underway.
