Bombay HC Swears In 14 New Additional Judges, Strength Rises To 82

Mumbai: Fourteen new judges were sworn in as additional judges of Bombay High Court on Tuesday. Acting Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar administered the oath to the 14 judges, including Raj Damodar Wakode, a relative of CJI Gavai.

List Of Newly Appointed Judges

Others appointed as HC judges are Siddheshwar Thombre, Mehroz Ashraf Khan Pathan, Ranjitsinha Bhonsale, Sandesh Patil, Shreeram Shirsat, Hiten Venegavkar, Rajnish Vyas, Nandesh Deshpande, Amit Jamsandekar, Ashish Chavan, Vaishali Patil-Jadhav, Abasaheb Shinde and Farhan Dubash.

Lawyers With Central Agency Backgrounds Elevated

Advocates Patil, Shirsat, Venegavkar and Chavan have represented central agencies like the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in several profile cases. Currently, Venegavkar is the chief public prosecutor at the HC.

Appointments Cleared By Centre

The Supreme Court collegium recommended their appointment on August 19. The Central government cleared the same on August 27.

Recent Elevations At The HC

On August 19, three judges were sworn in as HC judges, including Aarti Sathe, whose elevation drew political attention over her previous role as a BJP spokesperson. Other two sworn in as judges were Ajit Kadethankar and Sushil Ghodeswar.

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HC Judge Strength Rises To 82

Until yesterday, the High Court had a functioning strength of 68 judges against a sanctioned strength of 94. With the new appointments, the strength has come up to 82.