The Supreme Court Collegium has proposed the name of Advocate Arun Kumar for elevation as judge of the Allahabad High Court.
As per the Collegium, it had earlier deferred the recommendation made by the High Court Collegium in this regard, in view of certain reports given by the Intelligence Bureau.
However, the Bureau did not have any ‘verifiable’ material to substantiate the objections raised by it. Therefore, the Collegium has decided to propose the name of Advocate Kumar to the Central government.
It further said that the lawyer had been practicing at the Bar for the past 25 years and also had experience of conducting a wide range of cases before the High Court in constitution, civil and revenue jurisdiction.
The Collegium also took in view the positive opinion given by three consultee-judges, who were consulted to know about the suitability of Advocate Kumar.
The Collegium said in a statement that on May 3 this year, the Department of Justice had forwarded to the Supreme Court a report dated February 1, 2023 of the Intelligence Bureau, which said that they did not have any additional inputs in addition to the earlier ones.
The statement further said that having regard to the above aspects and bearing in mind that the Intelligence Bureau had no additional/specific inputs or verifiable material against Advocate Kumar, the Collegium was of the considered opinion that the candidate was eminently fit and suitable for appointment as a Judge of the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad.