Kochi: Justice Navniti Prasad, a judge in the Patna High Court has been appointed Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court with effect from the date he assumes charge of his office, according to official sources in the Law Ministry.
Justice T B Radhakrishnan, who had been serving as the acting Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court, has been appointed as the Chief Justice of the Chhattisgarh High Court.
As per sources, the other appointments of Chief Justices are to the High Courts of Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand. Acting Chief Justice of the Patna High Court Hemant Gupta has been made Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court while acting Chief Justice of the Jharkhand High Court P K Mohanty was made 'regular' chief justice there.
The Central government told the Rajya Sabha Friday that 201 proposals by the collegium for appointment of judges in the high courts are at "various stages of processing".
As on March 1, the 24 high courts were working with 642 judges, while the approved strength is 1079 -- a shortfall of 437.