Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren today criticised the Central government for the delay in appointing the Jharkhand High Court Chief Justice.
Soren questioned the delay despite the Supreme Court collegium clearing the name of Justice B.R. Sarangi for the post 7-8 months ago.
The senior-most judge of the Orissa High Court, Justice B.R. Sarangi, today took oath as the Chief Justice of the Jharkhand High Court. Justice Sarangi is due to retire on July 20.
Soren, along with Assembly Speaker Rabindra Nath Mahto, attended the swearing-in ceremony at Raj Bhawan in Ranchi, where Governor C.P. Radhakrishnan administered the oath of office to the Chief Justice.
Talking to media persons at Raj Bhawan, the Jharkhand CM said, “Finally, we have a new Chief Justice in the Jharkhand High Court. According to Indian law, an acting Chief Justice can only be appointed under exceptional circumstances and only for a maximum of one month.”
Soren said, “From what I understand, the newly appointed Chief Justice also has a very short tenure. Although the Supreme Court appointed him 7-8 months ago, it took the Central Government this long to send him here. I believe he could have been sent earlier.”
Notably, the position of Chief Justice of the Jharkhand High Court became vacant after Justice Sanjaya Kumar Mishra retired on December 28, 2023.
On July 3, the Union Ministry of Law and Justice announced the appointment of Justice Sarangi as the new Chief Justice of the High Court.
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