Madhya Pradesh High Court gets ten new judges

Ten new judges were sworn into office as judges of the Madhya Pradesh High Court this morning, including five lawyers and five judicial officers.

The judges sworn in today as permanent judges include Justices Pushpendra Yadav, Anand Singh Bahrawat, Ajay Kumar Nirankari, Jai Kumar Pillai, Himanshu Joshi, Ramkumar Choubey and Rajesh Kumar Gupta.

Further, Justices Alok Awasthi, Ratnesh Chandra Singh Bisen and Bhagwati Prasad Sharma were sworn in as additional judges of the High Court for a period of two years.

The Central government had notified their appointment on July 28, following Supreme Court Collegium recommendations made earlier this month and in January this year.

Advocate General (AG) of Madhya Pradesh Prashant Singh were among the lawyers who spoke at the event, to welcome the newly sworn in judges.

He said that the legal fraternity was extremely happy that such a large number of judges have joined the High Court.

He also expressed personal joy in the elevation of Justice Pushpendra Yadav, revealing that he had worked closely earlier with the newly appointed judge.

Justice Yadav had earlier served in various roles, including as panel counsel, government advocate, deputy Advocate General, Additional Advocate General and Deputy Solicitor General of India. AG Singh remarked that this had earned him the confidence of both the Bar and the Bench alike.

Of the newly sworn-in judges, Justice Choubey's name was recommended for appointment as a High Court judge in January this year, while the remaining judges were recommended in July.

The elevation of Justice Gupta as a High Court judge was embroiled in some controversy after a judicial officer, who had earlier accused him of sexual harassment resigned from office, after his appointment as a High Court judge.

Justice Gupta, however, maintained that the allegations against him are baseless. Speaking to Bar & Bench prior to his appointment as a High Court judge, Justice Gupta had said,

"These all people always start all these things, there have been never any complaints against me. I have lived my entire life like a saint. It has been 35 years I have been working and there have been no complaints against me. My retirement is also very close, rest High Court can confirm all the details, but I have not received any communication from the High Court in this regard."

Madhya Pradesh High Court was functioning with a strength of 34 judges as against a sanctioned strength of 53. With ten more judges joining its ranks, the working strength of the Court has risen to 44 judges.

Two High Court judges are set to retire on August 9 and 13.

One more judicial officer, Pradeep Mittal, has also been cleared for appointment as an additional judge of the High Court for a period of two years. However, his appointment will take effect only from August 10.

[Watch Swearing-in Ceremony]