The Bombay High Court witnessed Advocate Somasekhar Sundaresan sworn in as an additional judge of the Bombay High Court.
The oath was administered to Advocate Somasekhar by the Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya.
The number of judges at the Bombay High Court is now 69, as against a sanctioned strength of 94 judges.
The appointment of Sundareshan by the Central government as an additional judge was cleared on November 23, ten months after the Collegium had reiterated its recommendation to elevate him.
Sundaresan was recommended for elevation by the Bombay High Court Collegium in October 2021. Subsequently, in February 2022, the Supreme Court Collegium also recommended his name.
However, on November 25, 2022, the Central government opposed his elevation. The apparent reason given by the government was that Sundaresan aired his views in the social media on several matters which are the subject matter of consideration before the courts.
In response to such a stand, the Collegium has said that having considered the objection to the candidature of Shri Somasekhar Sundaresan, the Collegium is of the view that the views on social media attributed to the candidate, do not furnish any foundation to infer that he is biased.
The Supreme Court Collegium had reiterated its recommendation to elevate Sundaresan as a judge back in January this year.
The Collegium headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud in a statement issued after its meeting on January 18,
“Expression of views by a candidate does not disentitle him to hold a constitutional office so long as the person proposed for judgeship is a person of competence, merit and integrity.”