Judicial officer Dharmesh Sharma was on Wednesday sworn in as additional judge of the Delhi High Court, taking the strength of the High Court to 48 against the sanctioned strength of 60.
Chief Justice of the High Court, Justice Satish Chander Sharma administered the oath of office and secrecy to Sharma at Court Room No.1.
The appointment of Sharma as an additional judge of the Delhi High Court was cleared by the Central government on May 15 this year.
Union Law and Justice Minister Kiren Rijiju had made the announcement on Twitter. As per the tweet, “In exercise of the power conferred under the Constitution, Dharmesh Sharma, Judicial Officer is appointed as Additional Judge of Delhi High Court. I extend my best wishes to him.”
A notification was also issued in this regard, which said, “In exercise of the power conferred by clause (1) of Article 224 of the Constitution of India, the President is pleased to appoint Dharmesh Sharma, to be an Additional Judge of Delhi High Court, for a period of two years, with effect from the date he assumes charge of his office.”
Earlier on May 1, judicial officers Girish Kathpalia and Manoj Jain were sworn in as additional judges of the High Court. They were also administered the oath of office and secrecy by Chief Justice Satish Chander Sharma.
On December 22 last year, the Supreme Court Collegium had recommended the names of judicial officers Girish Kathpalia, Dharmesh Sharma and Manoj Jain for their elevation as additional judges of the High Court.
The Supreme Court Collegium received the file from the Union Law Ministry on April 7
The Collegium, comprising Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud, Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice K.M. Joseph, observed in its April 12 resolution that the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court, in consultation with his two senior-most colleagues, had recommended the elevation of three judicial officers as High Court judges.
It ascertained the ‘fitness and suitability’ of the judicial officers for elevation and consulted the top court judges, who were ‘conversant’ with the affairs of the High Court of Delhi.
The Collegium further said that it had scrutinised and evaluated the material placed on record, including the observations made by the Department of Justice and certain complaints and representations, in order to assess the merit and suitability of these three judicial officers for elevation to the High Court of Delhi.
It added that before recommending their names to the Centre, the Collegium had considered the report of the Judgment Evaluation Committee, which graded the judgments authored by the judicial officers as “outstanding”.
The Collegium also took note of Intelligence Bureau reports on these officers that they have ‘good personal and professional image’ and nothing ‘adverse’ has come to notice against their integrity.
The resolution said that in view of the above, the Collegium had recommended the appointment of judicial officers Girish Kathpalia, Dharmesh Sharma and Manoj Jain as additional judges of the High Court of Delhi. Their inter se seniority be fixed as per the existing practice, it added.