Justice Siddharth Mridul was appointed as the chief justice of Manipur High Court three months after the Supreme Court Collegium recommendation. On October 9, the Centre had notified the Supreme Court that the appointment of a new chief justice of Manipur High Court will be issued ‘shortly’, stating that the file has been cleared and the rest of the process will follow soon.
Supreme Court Collegium Recommendation
The top court collegium headed by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud had on July 5 recommended the appointment of Delhi High Court judge Justice Siddharth Mridul as the chief justice of the Manipur High Court, amid the ethnic turmoil in the border state. The SC was hearing two petitions filed by the Advocates Association, Bengaluru, and another by an NGO seeking contempt of court proceedings against the Centre for alleged delay in deciding on the recommendations of the Supreme Court Collegium in the matter of appointment and transfer of judges.
On September 27, the Supreme Court had expressed concerns at the collegium recommendations remaining pending with the Central Government. The bench led by Justice SK Kaul told Attorney General for India R Venkataramani that the proposal for appointment of Chief Justice of a “sensitive” High Court (alluding to the Manipur High Court) is also among the pending resolutions. Last week, Attorney General informed the Court that the notification for Justice Mridul’s appointment as Manipur HC CJ will be issued soon.
In a related development, the Supreme Court collegium last week recommended the transfer of Justice MV Muralidaran, who is presently the Acting Chief Justice of the Manipur High Court, to Calcutta High Court.