Chandigarh, June 19
Four members of the Bar — Mr M. M. Kumar, Mr Ashutosh Mohunta, Mr Jasbir Singh and Mr Adarsh Goel — will be administered oath as Judges of the Punjab and Haryana High Court following the clearance of their names by the President of India.
The oath-taking ceremony is expected to be held in the courtroom of the Chief Justice by the end of this month or in the first week of July after the summer break.
According to sources in the High Court here, the four advocates were today medically examined at the Sector 16 General Hospital. The medical examination, sources say, is mandatory before the oath-taking ceremony.
Mr Mohunta is the standing
counsel for the Union of India, while Mr Kumar and Mr Jasbir Singh have been practising in the High Court here. Mr Goel, originally from Chandigarh, had moved to Delhi and was practising there.
With their appointment, the number of High Court Judges will rise to 30 against the sanctioned strength of 40. The strength had been reduced to 26 after the appointment of Mr Justice R.S. Mongia as the Chief Justice of the Guwahati High Court and the transfer of Mr Justice V.S. Aggarwal to the Delhi High Court.
Highly placed sources in the High Court added that another panel of advocates practising in the Punjab and Haryana High Court was under consideration for appointment as Judges.
It may be recalled that a social organisation — Lawyers Endeavour For Truth, in a petition before the High Court, had asked for directions to the Union Law Minister and other respondents to fill up the vacancies. The petitioner had stated that the vacancies had been existing for four to five years now.
