Justice Sheel Nagu appointed Punjab & Haryana High Court Chief Justice

Saurabh Malik

Chandigarh, July 4

More than six months after the Supreme Court recommended his elevation, the President on Thursday appointed Justice Sheel Nagu as the Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The appointment comes at a time when the high court is grappling with a shortage of 31 judges and a backlog of over 4.36 lakh cases. The high court currently has 54 judges against the sanctioned strength of 85. This situation is expected to exacerbate with the impending retirement of three judges this year and three more next year.

As many as 15 judges are in the zone of consideration for elevation from the category of district and sessions judges. But their names could not be considered and recommended in the absence of a regular Chief Justice since the office fell vacant in October last year with the retirement of Justice Ravi Shankar Jha.

The names of advocates were last recommended for elevation more than a year ago by the high court collegium, headed by the then Chief Justice and two senior-most judges. Available information suggests judges have not been appointed in the high court since November last year as the collegium did not meet subsequent to Justice Jha’s retirement.

The situation will take time to ease as the appointment process is lengthy and time consuming. Once cleared by the states and the governors after recommendation by the high court collegium, the file containing the names with intelligence bureau reports is placed before the Supreme Court collegium when it meets. The names cleared for elevation are then sent to the Union Law Ministry before their warrants of appointment are signed by the President.

The pendency of cases, including “legacy” matters entangled in the legal system for more than three decades, has registered a dip during the first half following an ambitious initiative to streamline the judicial system. But the high court remains in urgent need of more judges for effective operation.

Justice Nagu has been serving as an Acting Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court since May 24. He was appointed as a judge there in May 2011, after practising on constitutional, service, labour and criminal sides.

The Supreme Court collegium, while recommending his name on December 27 last year, had observed: “As regards his contribution to the judiciary by way of disposal of cases during his tenure of over 12 years as a judge of the Madhya Pradesh High Court, he has authored more than 499 reported judgments. He has acquired extensive experience in dispensing justice at the high court… He is considered to be a competent judge and possesses a high level of integrity and conduct required of a person holding high judicial office.”