4 advocates appointed Punjab and Haryana High Court judges

Saurabh Malik
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, October 27

More than a month after the names of four advocates were cleared by the Supreme Court collegium for elevation as judges of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, the President has appointed them.

The advocates are Manjari Nehru Kaul, Harsimran Singh Sethi, Arun Kumar Monga and Manoj Bajaj.

Kaul is the daughter of Punjab and Haryana High Court’s former judge, Justice RK Nehru. She, along with Sethi and Bajaj, are law officers with the Punjab Advocate-General’s office.

Punjab Advocate-General Atul Nanda said the clearance of names of three law officers for elevation was a reflection of the high professional standards maintained by his office.    

The then Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Justice Shiavax Jal Vazifdar, had recommended the names on November, 24, 2017, in consultation with his two senior-most colleagues.

The list met the Punjab government’s immediate approval, but the Haryana government kept considering the matter till it finally sent the file back for reconsideration with certain objections. But this was not the end of it. One of the collegium members reportedly shot off a communication to the Union Law Ministry with some comments.

As of now, the High Court with just 47 judges, against the sanctioned strength of 85, is among the top three courts in the country in terms of vacancies; the other two being Allahabad and Madras.