The Supreme Court Collegium has recommended the appointment of acting Chief Justice of Bombay High Court SV Gangapurwala as the Chief Justice of Madras High Court.
During a meeting that was held on t on April 19, 2023, the recommendation was passed by Collegium comprising Chief Justice of India Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud and Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and KM Joseph.
Justice Gangapurwala began his practice as a lawyer in 1985 with the chambers of advocate S N Loya.
Justice Gangapurwala was an advocate for financial institutions such as Central Bank of India, Bombay Mercantile Cooperative Bank, Jalgaon Janata Sahakari Bank as well as Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University.
The justice has also represented the government before Justice Mane Commission on the riots in Maharashtra in 1999.
He was elevated as the judge of Bombay High Court on March 13, 2010, and thereafter appointed as acting Chief Justice of Bombay High Court on December 11, 2022.
ACJ Gangapurwala is the senior-most Judge in Bombay High Court and will be demitting office in May 2024.
The colleigum said that the experience of Justice Gangapurwala having served as acting Chief Justice in the second largest High Court in the country (with benches at Aurangabad and Nagpur and a seat also at Goa) during the last four months would be useful for him in dispensing justice as Chief Justice in the Madras High Court.
It also reasoned that presently there was only one Chief Justice from Bombay High Court (CJ PB Varale in Karnataka High Court).
The Collegium believes that he is fit and suitable in all respects to be appointed as Chief Justice of Madras High Court.
In related development, the Collegium also recalled its earlier recommendation to appoint Justice A Muralidhar as the Madras High Court Chief Justice.