Centre notifies appointment of PK Bhat as an Additional Judge for Karnataka High Court [Read Notification]
The Central government has today notified the appointment of Panjigadde Krishna Bhat as an Additional Judge of the Karnataka High Court.
Judge Bhat has been appointed for a two year period as an Additional Judge of the High Court. The notification issued in this regard reads,
In exercise of the power conferred by clause (1) of Article 224 of the Constitution of India, the President is pleased to appoint Sri Panjigadde Krishna Bhat, to be an Additional Judge of the Karnataka High Court, for a period of two years with effect from the date he assumes charge of his office.Central government notification
The Collegium had initially recommended the elevation of District and Sessions Judge Bhat back in February, 2016. However, the Centre had sent back the proposal owing to some complaints received against him.
The complaints were brought to light by former Supreme Court judge, Justice Jasti Chelameswar, who had written a letter to then Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra in 2018, warning against the bonhomie between the Judiciary and the government.
Later, after three years, in 2019, the Supreme Collegium had resolved to reiterate its move to appoint P Krishna Bhat as a judge of the Karnataka High Court.
Recently, the Central government had notified the appointment of five judicial officers as Additional Judges of the Karnataka High Court.
With this appointment, currently the Karnataka High Court has a working strength of 48 judges (28 permanent and 20 additional judges), as against a sanctioned strength of 62 judges.
[Read notification here]