Three advocates from the city have been appointed as Judges of the Bombay High Court after a gap of nearly four years. The Supreme Court Collegium on Tuesday recommended nine advocates for elevation, including three from Nagpur. The advocates from Nagpur who have been elevated to the prestigious position are Nivedita Prakash Mehta, Prafulla Surendra Kumar Khubalkar, and Rohit Wasudeo Joshi.

 

They are joined by Rajesh Sudhakar Datar, Sachin Shivajirao Deshmukh, Gautam Ashwin Ankhad, Mahendra Madhavrao Nerilkar, Ashwin Damodar Bhobe, and Advait Mahendra Sethna in the list of new appointees to the Bombay High Court. The recommendations for these appointments were forwarded to the Supreme Court Collegium by the Bombay High Court Collegium through two separate resolutions, one dated January 19 and the other April 19 of this year. Both resolutions were based on consultations between the Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court and the two senior-most colleagues of the court. Following a thorough evaluation of the qualifications and merits of the candidates, the Supreme Court Collegium gave its final approval and confirmed their suitability for elevation.

 

The Collegium stated in its resolution, “For the purpose of assessing the merit and suitability of the above candidates for elevation to the High Court, we have scrutinised and evaluated the material placed on record. We have also perused the observations made by the Department of Justice in the file.” Advocate Atul Pande, President of the High Court Bar Association (HCBA), Nagpur, welcomed the news and expressed that it was a long-awaited and much- anticipated moment for the city’s advocates. “The legal fraternity of Nagpur has been waiting for this elevation for the past four years. We took up the issue at every front and advocated for the recognition of Nagpur’s talent,” Pande stated and appreciated the efforts of all involved in ensuring that Nagpur is well-represented on the Bombay High Court bench. 

 

Adv Nivedita Mehta

 

The SC resolution stated that the inputs provided by the Department of Justice in the file indicate that the candidate enjoys a good personal and professional image; and that nothing adverse has come to notice against her integrity. Adv Nivedita Mehta has extensive practice of 31 years in civil, Constitutional, service, local and municipal, labour and criminal laws. She represented the Government of Maharashtra at Nagpur Bench in the capacity of Assistant Government Pleader and Additional Public Prosecutor from 2013 to 2023 and has been representing the State Government as an Additional Government Pleader and Additional Public Prosecutor since October 2023. The elevation of Nivedita Prakash Mehta to the Bench of the High Court would fulfil the need to ensure gender diversity among the High Court Judges, the resolution stated.

 

Adv Prafulla Khubalkar

 

All the consultee-Judges have unanimously given positive opinion on the suitability of Adv Khubalkar as a Judge of the High Court, stated the resolution. The inputs provided by the Department of Justice in the file indicate that the candidate enjoys a good personal and professional image; and that nothing adverse has come to notice against his integrity. The candidate has a practice of more than 27 years at the Bar in civil, Constitutional, service and arbitration cases. As the candidate belongs to OBC category, his elevation will facilitate greater representation to the Other Backward Classes in appointments to the higher judiciary.

 

Adv Rohit Joshi

 

Adv Joshi has extensive practice of more than 26 years in civil, criminal, Constitutional, labour and service cases which is reflected in 34 reported judgments delivered in the cases in which he appeared/argued, the SC resolution stated. The adverse comments made in the file regarding the limited practice and exposure of the candidate are outweighed by the positive opinion of all the consultee-Judges. The fact that the candidate appears for a public sector undertaking should not come in the way of the recommendation of the candidate. Further, one of the members of the Collegium (Justice B R Gavai) during his tenure as High Court Judge, while sitting at the Bench at Nagpur, has personally observed the performance of the candidate. Bearing in mind all the relevant factors, the Collegium is of the considered view that the candidate is fit and suitable for appointment as a Judge of the High Court, stated the resolution.