New Delhi, May 26 (IANS) The Centre on Friday notified the appointment of Justice R.D. Dhanuka as the Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court. He will demit office on May 30, and thus will have a tenure of only four days as the Chief Justice.
The Centre also notified the appointment of Acting Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court SV Gangapurwala as Chief Justice of the Madras High Court.
The development has come after the Supreme Court collegium on April 19 had recommended names of Justice Dhanuka and Justice Gangapurwala as the heads of the high courts.
Madras High Court’s Acting Chief Justice T Raja retired on May 24. The Supreme Court collegium had on April 19 reiterated the recommendation for the elevation of Justice Raja as the Chief Justice of Rajasthan High Court, however, it was not cleared by Centre.
The Department of Justice, in a notification said: “In exercise of the power conferred by clause (1) of Article 217 of the Constitution of India, the President is pleased to appoint Shri Justice Ramesh Deokinandan Dhanuka, Judge of the Bombay High Court, to be the Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court with effect from the date he assumes charge of his office.”
On April 19, the Supreme court collegium had recommended Justice Dhanuka as the Chief Justice of the High Court of Bombay.
The collegium, headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud, had said the office of the Chief Justice of High Court of Bombay has been lying vacant for quite some time, consequent upon the elevation of Justice Dipankar Datta to the Supreme Court. Therefore, an appointment to that office is required to be made and Justice Dhanuka was appointed as a judge of the high court of Bombay on 23 January 2012, and he is due to demit office on 30 May 2023, added the collegium, in a statement uploaded on apex court website.
Born in 1961, Justice Dhanuka completed his schooling in Mumbai. He acquired the Bachelor degree in Commerce and Law from the University of Bombay. He was on the senior counsel panel of Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai for the last several years and has appeared in a large number of matters representing Municipal Corporation in Bombay High Court.
Another notification on the appointment of Justice Gangapurwala said: “In exercise of the power conferred by clause (1) of Article 217 of the Constitution of India, the President is pleased to appoint Shri Justice Sanjay Vijaykumar Gangapurwala, Judge, Bombay High Court, to be the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court with effect from the date he assumes charge of his office.”
Justice Gangapurwala was born on May 24, 1962. He stood third in the order of merit in LL.B. examination and started practice in the year 1985 and joined chambers of advocate S.N. Loya. He practiced in trial court, high court and Debt Recovery Tribunal.
He is a keen sportsman who played lawn tennis at National level and represented Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Marthwada University six times and captained it twice in All India University Tournament. He also played basketball at state level.