New Delhi: In another significant decision, the Supreme Court Collegium has recommended 68 names for elevation as judges to 12 High Courts.

Chief Justice N.V. Ramana, headed collegium, has recommended 68 names, including ten women candidates for Allahabad, Rajasthan, Calcutta, Jharkhand, Jammu and Kashmir, Madras, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Punjab and Haryana, Kerala, Chhattisgarh and Assam high courts.

Supreme Court has faced severe criticisms for not appointing judges to the high court, which are facing a crunch, especially Allahabad, Rajasthan, and Calcutta high courts.

Collegium headed by CJI , N.V. Ramana has considered 112 names, 82 from Bar and 24 are from the Bench. In which it has cleared, 44 are from the Bar, and 24 are from the judicial services. While recommending the names, the Collegium has considered the social justice, the female judicial officers belonging to Scheduled Tribe and Scheduled Casts recommended for elevation.

Recently the Supreme Court has appointed nine judges to top court at one go and it was termed as a historic decision in the recent past. Among nine-judge, Justice B.V. Nagarathna will become the first women Chief Justice of India in 2027.

Read: Karnataka judge B.V. Nagarathna likely to be first woman CJI in 2027

Three-member collegium headed by Chief Justice N.V. Ramana, Justice U U Lalit, and Justice A M Khanwilkar recently recommended seven names for Telangana High Court on August 17. 

On the same day, a five-member collegium of Supreme Court had recommended nine names for elevation to the Bench of Supreme Court.

With nine elevations of judges, the present strength of the Supreme Court bench to 33, leaving it with only one vacancy caused by Justice Navin Sinha's retirement on August 18.