The Central government on Thursday notified the appointment of Senior Advocate N Unni Krishnan Nair as an additional judge of the Gauhati High Court..Union Minister of State with independent charge of the Law and Justice Ministry, Arjun Ram Meghwal, took to X (formerly Twitter) to share the news..The Central government had earlier in November notified the appointment of Senior Advocate Kaushik Goswami as an additional judge of the Gauhati High Court. In doing so, at the time the Central government had deferred processing the name of Nair, whose name was also proposed in the same Collegium resolution.The delayed notification of his appointment was set to reduce Nair's seniority.However, the High Court deferred the swearing-in of Goswami, and on Friday the oath was administered to Nair (six years older) first to maintain seniority.The Collegium resolution published on the apex court's website on October 17 states that the Gauhati High Court Collegium had recommended both two lawyers for judgeship on May 29 this year.The views of constitutional authorities of the States of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Nagaland, were then taken. Following this, the judges at the apex court conversant with the affairs of the Gauhati High Court were also consulted by the Supreme Court Collegium.The inputs of the Union Department of Justice (DoJ) were considered as well to determine the fitness and suitability of the lawyers for elevation.All four consultee-judges had unanimously given a positive opinion for NaIR. The DoJ had noted his professional competence but had made an adverse observation.However, the Collegium had opined that this should not come in the way of the recommendation, particularly when the government had put on record a report that nothing adverse has come to notice against his integrity.With Nair's appointment, the Gauhati High Court will function with 26 judges as against its sanctioned strength of 30 judges..[Read Notification]
The Central government on Thursday notified the appointment of Senior Advocate N Unni Krishnan Nair as an additional judge of the Gauhati High Court..Union Minister of State with independent charge of the Law and Justice Ministry, Arjun Ram Meghwal, took to X (formerly Twitter) to share the news..The Central government had earlier in November notified the appointment of Senior Advocate Kaushik Goswami as an additional judge of the Gauhati High Court. In doing so, at the time the Central government had deferred processing the name of Nair, whose name was also proposed in the same Collegium resolution.The delayed notification of his appointment was set to reduce Nair's seniority.However, the High Court deferred the swearing-in of Goswami, and on Friday the oath was administered to Nair (six years older) first to maintain seniority.The Collegium resolution published on the apex court's website on October 17 states that the Gauhati High Court Collegium had recommended both two lawyers for judgeship on May 29 this year.The views of constitutional authorities of the States of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Nagaland, were then taken. Following this, the judges at the apex court conversant with the affairs of the Gauhati High Court were also consulted by the Supreme Court Collegium.The inputs of the Union Department of Justice (DoJ) were considered as well to determine the fitness and suitability of the lawyers for elevation.All four consultee-judges had unanimously given a positive opinion for NaIR. The DoJ had noted his professional competence but had made an adverse observation.However, the Collegium had opined that this should not come in the way of the recommendation, particularly when the government had put on record a report that nothing adverse has come to notice against his integrity.With Nair's appointment, the Gauhati High Court will function with 26 judges as against its sanctioned strength of 30 judges..[Read Notification]
