Centre notifies elevations of several judges of different HCs as Permanent Judges

The Ministry of Law and Justice, representing the Central Government, has promoted several judges across various High Courts—Calcutta, Kerala, Jharkhand, and Punjab & Haryana—elevating them from additional judges to permanent judges. In individual notifications issued on January 30, the government formalized the appointments for each judge.

As per the notifications, Justice Pradeep Kumar Srivastava, previously serving as an Additional Judge in the High Court of Jharkhand, will now assume the role of a Judge in that High Court. Similarly, Justice Shoba Annamma Eapen, who held the position of Additional Judge in the Kerala High Court, has been appointed as a Judge of the same High Court.

In the case of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Justice Lapita Banerji, formerly an Additional Judge, has been designated as a Judge to fill a vacancy in the permanent judgeship of the Calcutta High Court. The appointment is effective from the date she assumes office, as indicated in the notification.

Furthermore, the notifications also confirm the elevation of Justice Shampa Dutt (Paul), Justice Raja Basu Chowdhury, Justice Ananya Bandyopadhyay, and Justice Rai Chattopadhyay—previously serving as Additional Judges in the Calcutta High Court—to the position of Judges in the same High Court. Their appointments take effect from the respective dates they assume charge of their offices, according to the related notifications.

These appointments align with the recent recommendations made by the Supreme Court Collegium, which comprises Chief Justice of India Dr. Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice Sanjiv Khanna, and Justice BR Gavai. The Collegium resolved to propose the names of these judges for permanent appointments in their respective high courts.