Chandigarh, August 28
Justice Mukul Mudgal of the Delhi High Court is tipped to be the Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court High Court, with the apex court collegium clearing the name of Chief Justice Tirath Singh Thakur for elevation to the Supreme Court.

It is believed Chief Justice Thakur will have a chance to become the CJI and remain on the post for about two years.

Justice J.S. Khehar’s name too has been cleared for elevation as the Chief Justice of the Uttarakhand High Court. After Chief Justice Thakur, he was the senior most judge.

Justice Mudgal was appointed as a Judge of the Delhi High Court on March 2, 1998. He has done his schooling at Modern School, Barakhamba Road, New Delhi, and B.Sc. (Hons) from Hindu College, and LL.B from Delhi University.

He successfully represented the eight banned cricketers in the Supreme Court as a counsel in 1989, and appeared as an amicus curiae in vital public interest cases cases, including cases of prison reforms and environment law.

Information suggests the collegium has recommended the elevation of five Chief Justices to the SC, including Justice Surinder Singh Nijjar (60), who remained acting Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court at Chandigarh from October 3, 2006 to November 28, 2006. He is currently the Chief Justice of the Calcutta HC.

At its meetings spread over two days, the collegium also cleared the elevation of the Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court Ananga Kumar Patnaik; Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court P.D. Dinakaran; and the Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court K.S. Radhakrishnan.

Justice Thakur (57) who is from Jammu and Kashmir, was appointed acting Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court in April 2008. He took over as Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court on August 11, 2008.

His tenure saw reduction in the pendency of cases, with the number of cases disposed of being more than the filed. The rules for the appointment of additional district and sessions judges in the lower judiciary too were amended. The mandatory condition of clearing the Hindi examination in Haryana was relaxed; and the percentage was lowered for SC/ST candidates.

His move to seek the assistance of retired judges to dispose of the cases to cut down on pendency was widely appreciated during the conference of the chief justices and the chief ministers held in New Delhi recently.