The Supreme Court Collegium has recommended that eight lawyers be elevated as judges of the Karnataka High Court.

The eight advocates are Savanur Vishwajith Shetty, SR Krishna Kumar, Maralur Indrakumar Arun, Mohammed Ghouse , Ashok Kinagi, Govindaraj Suraj, ES Indiresh, and Sachin Shankar Magadum.

The Collegium also saw it fit to remit the name of BV Vidyulatha to the Karnataka High Court for reconsideration.

The Karnataka High Court Collegium had recommended these nine names for elevation on May 25, 2018.

After perusing the material on record, including observations and complaints forwarded by the Department of Justice, the Supreme Court decided to recommend the elevation of the eight advocates.

As regards the recommendation to elevate Vidyulatha, the Collegium opined,

“…having regard to all relevant factors and the material placed in the file, the Collegium is of the considered view that the proposal for her elevation deserves to be remitted to the Karnataka High Court.”

The Karnataka High Court is currently working at half its strength, with 31 vacancies out of 62 sanctioned posts. Should the Centre sign off on these recommendations, the strength will go up to 39 judges.

Last year, lawyers in Bangalore went on hunger strike to protest the number of vacancies at the High Court.

Read the resolution: