President appoints Justice SK Bhatti as acting Chief Justice of Kerala HC: Kiren Rijiju

New Delhi [India], April 21 : Union Minister for Law and Justice Kiren Rijiju on Friday said that President Draupadi Murmu appointed Justice SK Bhatti as acting Chief Justice of Kerala High Court with effect from April 24.

In this regard, Union Minister Rijiju took to Twitter and said," In exercise of the power conferred by the Constitution of India, the President of India has appointed Justice SK Bhatti as Acting Chief Justice of Kerala High Court w.e.f. 24.04.23".

Earlier on April 18 Supreme Court collegium recommended the names of six additional judges of the Punjab and Haryana High Court for appointment as permanent judges.

The Collegium headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud took the decision to recommend the additional judges of the High Court for a permanent judgeship on April 17.

The additional judges are Justices Vikas Bahl, Vikas Suri, Sandeep Moudgil, Vinod Sharma (Bhardwaj), Pankaj Jain and Jasjit Singh Bedi.

The collegium, which includes Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and KM Joseph, said that since the current two-year term of one of the additional judges expires on May 24, the recommendation may be processed expeditiously by the Centre.

The Collegium of Punjab and Haryana High Court had on December 19, 2022, unmously recommended that the additional judges be appointed as permanent judges of that High Court.

The recommendation, which has the concurrence of the Chief Ministers and the Governors of the states of Punjab and Haryana, was received from the Department of Justice on April 13, 2023, the Collegium of the top court read.