New Delhi: Chief Justice of India NV Ramana on Monday administered the oath of office to Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia and Justice Jamshed Burjor Pardiwala as Supreme Court judges. After the appointment of the two new judges, the apex court will function at its full strength of 34. CJI Ramana administered the oath of office to the judges in a swearing-in ceremony held in the auditorium of the Supreme Court’s additional building complex.
Gauhati High Court Chief Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia and Gujarat High Court judge, Justice Jamshed Burjor Pardiwala, took oath at 10 am today. The Supreme Court Collegium led by CJI Ramana on May 4 had recommended to the Centre the elevation of Justices Dhulia and Pardiwala, for appointment as top court judges. Two days after the apex court collegium headed by the CJI recommended the names of the two high court judges, the Union Law Ministry swiftly announced their appointments on Saturday in separate notifications.
Justice Dhulia is the second Judge elevated from Uttarakhand High Court. Justice Dhulia hails from Madanpur, a remote village located in the Pauri Garhwal district of Uttarakhand. Justice Dhulia was born on August 10, 1960, in Lansdowne, Pauri Garhwal and had his early education in Dehradun and Allahabad. He is an Alumni of Sainik School, Lucknow and did his graduation and Law from the University of Allahabad. He was a keen debater and a sportsman in school and college days.
His paternal grandfather Bhairav Dutt Dhulia was a freedom fighter and was sentenced to seven years in jail for his participation in the ‘Quit India Movement’ (he served a jail sentence for about three years, before he was released, along with other freedom fighters). He was a Sanskrit scholar and an Ayurvedacharya. His father Justice Keshev Chandra Dhuliya was a Judge at Allahabad High Court. Justice Dhulia has two brothers. His elder brother Himanshu Dhulia is a retired Naval Officer and the younger, Tigmanshu Dhulia, is a national award-winning film director.
He was the first Chief Standing Counsel in the High Court of Uttarakhand and was later an Additional Advocate General for the State of Uttarakhand. He was designated as a senior advocate in 2004. He was elevated as the judge of the High Court of Uttarakhand in November 2008 and later became the Chief Justice of the High Court of Assam, Mizoram, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh on January 10, 2021.
Justice Pardiwala was born on August 12, 1965, in Mumbai and did his schooling in St. Joseph Convent School in his home town Valsad (South Gujarat). He graduated from the J P Arts College, Valsad. He went on to obtain a degree in Law from the KM Mulji Law College, Valsad in 1988. Justice Pardiwala is the fourth Parsi to adorn the bench of the Supreme Court. He will have a tenure of about two years and three months as Chief Justice of India. The elevation of a Judge from a minority community is happening after a gap of five years. Justice S Abdul Nazeer was elevated to Supreme Court in February 2017.
Justice Pardiwala is a fourth-generation legal professional in the family of lawyers. His father late Burjor Cawasji Pardiwala practised law for 52 years in the districts of Valsad and Navsari. He had also served as the Speaker of the 7th Legislative Assembly of Gujarat for a brief while. His grandfather and great-grandfather were also lawyers and practised in the districts of Valsad and Navsari. Justice Pardiwala started practising law in the High Court of Gujarat in the year 1990. He was elected as a member of the Bar Council of Gujarat in the year 1994. He was appointed as the Standing Counsel for the High Court of Gujarat in the year 2002 and held the office till the date of his elevation to the bench on February 17, 2011.
CJI Ramana could evolve a consensus in the five-judge Collegium to unanimously recommend a record number of 11 names so far, since August last year. 9 of them, including 3 women, were administered oath as Judges of the Supreme Court on August 31, 2021, by CJI Ramana. The same collegium consisting of CJI Ramana, Justices UU Lalit, AM Khanwilkar, DY Chandrachud and L Nageswara Rao also recommended the appointment of 10 new Chief Justices to various High Courts. The Collegium of top three judges recommended so far 180 names for appointment as judges of various High Courts. With the appointment of Justice Dhulia and Justice Pardiwala, the top court will regain its full strength of 34 judges which had come down to 32 after the retirement of Justice R Subhash Reddy on January 4 this year.
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