New Delhi, March 26 (IANS) The Centre on Wednesday extended the term of three additional judges of the Chhattisgarh High Court for a year following the recommendation made by the Supreme Court Collegium.

“In exercise of the power conferred by clause (1) of Article 224 of the Constitution of India, the President is pleased to appoint S/Shri Justices (i) Sachin Singh Rajput, (ii) Radhakishan Agrawal, and (iii) Sanjay Kumar Jaiswal, Additional Judges of the High Court of Chhattisgarh, to be Additional Judges of that High Court for a period of one year w.e.f. 16.05.2025, 02.08.2025, and 01.05.2025, respectively,” said a notification issued by the Union Ministry of Law and Justice.

Last week, the Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna-led SC Collegium had recommended the extension of the term of these three additional judges of the Chhattisgarh HC for a year.

“The Supreme Court Collegium in its meeting held on 19th March 2025 has resolved to recommend that S/Shri Justices (i) Sachin Singh Rajput, (ii) Radhakishan Agrawal, and (iii) Sanjay Kumar Jaiswal, be appointed as Additional Judges of High Court of Chhattisgarh for a fresh term of one year,” said a statement uploaded on the official website of the apex court.

The Chief Justice and Judges of the High Courts are to be appointed by the President under clause (1) of Article 217 of the Constitution. Additional Judges can be appointed by the President under clause (1) of Article 224 of the Constitution.

The Chief Justice, while sending his recommendation for appointing an additional Judge as a permanent Judge, must, along with his recommendation, furnish statistics of month-wise disposal of cases and judgments rendered by the judge concerned as well as the number of cases reported in the Law Journal, duly certified, by them.

The information would also be furnished regarding the total number of working days, the number of days they actually attended the court and the days of their absence during the period for which the disposal statistics are sent. As per the Memorandum of Procedure (MoP) regulating the appointment of HC judges, the Chief Justice of the High Court should not make a recommendation for the appointment of an additional Judge when a vacancy for a permanent Judge is available.

–IANS

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