With two months to retire, Justice SS Shinde of Bombay High Court recommended to take over as CJ of Rajasthan High Court

With only two months for remaining superannuation, Bombay High Court judge Justice SS Shinde has been recommended by the Supreme Court Collegium for elevation as Chief Justice of Rajasthan High Court..Justice Shinde has been in limelight since 2020 when the Division Bench led by him took over the criminal writ petition assignment in Bombay High Court.From 2020 to October 2021, Justice Shinde's bench came to pass orders in petitions filed by various prominent personalities including politicians, activists, and journalists..Born on August 2, 1960, Justice Shinde completed his LLB from Marathwada University at Aurangabad, Maharashtra and then went to do LLM from Pune University and later from Warwick University, United Kingdom. He started law practice as an advocate at the Aurangabad Bench in November 1989. In November 1995, he was appointed assistant government pleader / public prosecutor. Two years later, he was appointed government advocate to represent the State of Maharashtra in Supreme Court. He represented the State of Maharashtra as in-charge government advocate in Supreme Court till his elevation as Additional Judge of the High Court in March 2008 and was later confirmed as permanent judge. He will superannuate as High Court judge in August 1 this year, unless he is elevated to the Supreme Court before that..Below are some of the orders passed by Justice Shinde in the recent past:- Rejected interim plea by Republic TV Editor in Chief Arnab Goswami seeking interim bail in a case concerning the suicide of interior designer Anvay Naik in 2018. The order was set aside by the Supreme Court.- Ordered Mumbai Police to give three days' prior notice if they want to arrest Goswami in the plea by ARG Outlier Media (holding company of Republic TV channels) challenging the criminal proceedings initiated against the company in the TRP scam.- Dismissed the petition of former Home Minister of Maharashtra Anil Deshmukh challenging the FIR by Central Bureau of Investigation for offences of corruption and criminal conspiracy.The same day, Justice Shinde also refused to intervene against CBI in the plea by the Maharashtra government taking objection to probe into the transfers and postings of police officers made by Deshmukh.- Granted bail to two persons, Areeb Majeed and Iqbal Ahmed Kabir Ahmed both accused under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) for allegedly joining the global terror outfit - Islam State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).Pronounced two major orders in the Bhima Koregaon case of 2018 granting temporary bail to Telugu poet Varavara Rao and default bail to lawyer and activist Sudha Bharadwaj..Apart from the orders, Justice Shinde was also a judge who actively spoke his mind while hearing cases. While granting interim protection to Kangana Ranaut in the case filed by the Mumbai Police over allegedly hateful tweets, Justice Shinde remarked that there was an upward trend of adding Section 124A of Indian Penal Code (sedition) to complaints registered against those speaking against a Government.While hearing a plea by Sunaina Holey in relation to her allegedly objectionable tweets about Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, Justice Shinde opined that judiciary should be open to criticism and pay more attention on important questions of law rather than wasting its time over contempt proceedings.He had also previously remarked that people occupying positions of power should develop a thick skin as it is only they who will be subject of criticism and not some common person.Justice Shinde led bench also actively spoke for undertrials languishing in prisons because of inordinate delays in trials. On one occasion he lamented that due to the COVID pandemic, the judiciary having been paralysed, it was the undertrials who were suffering. .Another controversial instance was when his Bench was hearing bail appeals filed by Bhima Koregaon accused Stan Swamy. Swamy passed away in judicial custody during the hearing of his plea. Justice Shinde's bench received flak for not hearing and passing orders in the matter on time.Interestingly, while expressing condolences, Justice Shinde made some remarks lauding Swamy's social service. This led to objections from NIA counsel prompting the judge to take it back.This also triggered a controversy where an NGO wrote to the Chief Justice of India NV Ramana seeking action against Justice Shinde. The same organisation has also written to the Union Law and Justice Minister Kiren Rijiju to not approve the elevation of the judge as CJ of Rajasthan High Court.