The Supreme Court Collegium has recommended the appointment of one lawyer and seven judicial officers as judges of Bombay High Court.

The eight persons who have been recommended by the Collegium are as follows:

Advocate

Amit B Borkar

Judicial Officers

MG Sewlikar

VG Bisht

BU Debadwar

MS Jawalkar

SP Tavade

NR Borkar

SD Kulkarni.

The above recommendations were made by the then Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court on March 11, 2019, in consultation with his two senior-most colleagues.

In order to ascertain their suitability, the Supreme Court Collegium consulted their colleagues conversant with the affairs of the Bombay High Court and took note of the views of Chief Ministers and the Governors for the States of Maharashtra and Goa placed in the file. It also took into account the material placed before it by the Department of Justice and also interacted with the recommended candidates.

The Collegium also took note of the facts that three Judicial Officers viz. BU Debadwar, SP Tavade and SD Kulkarni had crossed the prescribed age limit of 58-1/2 years on the date of vacancies against which their names have been recommended.

However, the Collegium took into account the fact that Bombay High Court is grappling with huge pendency of civil as well as criminal cases, as it is functioning with 67 Judges against the total Judge-strength of 94. Besides, the Court also noted that the three judges named above have excellent service records reflecting that they are persons with a high level of judicial acumen, conduct, character and integrity.

Thus, the Collegium considered it fit to elevate all the eight persons including the three Judicial Officers who had crossed the prescribed age limit as judges of Bombay High Court

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