How does appointment of 3 new judges impact Delhi High Court seniority, roster?

A wave of judicial transfers in and out of the Delhi High Court in the last few months has drawn considerable scrutiny to the institution. The members of the Bar have written to the Chief Justice of India and the Supreme Court Collegium expressing concerns over the moves. 

In the most recent rejig, Justices Dinesh Mehta, Avneesh Jhingan (from Rajasthan) and Chandrasekharan Sudha (from Kerala) were sworn in last month.

At the same time, Justices Tara Vitasta Ganju and Arun Monga were moved to the Karnataka and Rajasthan High Courts, respectively. 

Bar & Bench takes a look at where the three judges, who assumed charge at the Delhi High Court on October 28, fit in the seniority list, the rosters they have been assigned and how it impacts the serving judges. 

Among all High Courts, the Delhi High Court now has the highest number of judges from other states. Of the 44 judges on the Bench, 10 (including Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya) are from High Courts other than Delhi. Karnataka High Court is close second with nine judges from outside, while Madras has six.

In the Delhi High Court Collegium (the three senior-most judges), only Justice V Kameswar Rao’s parent High Court is Delhi. While Chief Justice Upadhyaya comes from Allahabad, Justice NW Sambre is from Bombay. 

Justice Rao also happens to be the only judge from the national capital in the top five judges here. Notably, five of the nine division benches at the High Court are being headed by judges who hail from outside Delhi. 

Justice Dinesh Mehta is now the fourth senior-most judge at the Delhi High Court, while Justice Avneesh Jhingan ranks 10^th.

Justice Sudha is 20^th in the seniority list. 

As per the latest roster effective from October 28, Justice Mehta is sharing Division Bench IV with Justice Vimal Kumar Yadav. They are tasked with hearing appeals and petitions related primarily to services and Armed Forces. 

The roster was earlier with the Division Bench IX comprising Justices Subramonium Prasad and Vimal Kumar Yadav. As there are only nine Division Benches at the High Court at present, Justice Prasad (10^th in the seniority after Justice Mehta’s transfer to Delhi) is now the judge-in-charge of the High Court’s original jurisdiction. 

Justice Jhingan has been tasked with “Civil Writ Petitions relating to Land Reforms including matters relating to allotment of alternative land, Civil Writ Petitions (Service) of the year 2016 onwards, Regular hearing matters of the above categories.”

Meanwhile, Justice Sudha is dealing with “Civil Writ Petitions (Labour) of the years 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 & 2023, First Appeals from Orders (other than MV Act) and Regular hearing matters of the above categories.”