New Delhi, Oct 23 (IANS): The Centre on Wednesday cleared the appointment of five advocates as additional judges of the Bombay High Court on the recommendations made by the CJI D.Y. Chandrachud-headed Supreme Court Collegium.

A notification issued by the Union Ministry of Law and Justice said that advocates Nivedita Prakash Mehta, Prafulla Surendrakumar Khubalkar, Ashwin Damodar Bhobe, Rohit Wasudeo Joshi, and Advait Mahendra Sethna have been appointed as Bombay HC's additional judges by the President.

"In exercise of the power conferred by clause (1) of Article 224 of the Constitution of India, the President is pleased to appoint (i) Nivedita Prakash Mehta, (ii) Shri Prafulla Surendrakumar Khubalkar, (iii) Shri Ashwin Damodar Bhobe, (iv) Shri Rohit Wasudeo Joshi, and (v) Shri Advait Mahendra Sethna, to be Additional Judges of the Bombay High Court, for a period of two years, with effect from the date they assume charge of their respective offices," the notification said.

Last month, the Supreme Court Collegium, headed by CJI Chandrachud, recommended the appointment of these advocates as additional judges in the Bombay HC.

Before this, the Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court, in consultation with his two senior-most colleagues, had forwarded its recommendation for elevation of the names to the Bench.

The SC Collegium said that it consulted other apex court judges conversant with the affairs of the Bombay High Court to ascertain the fitness and suitability of the candidates, adding that it perused the observations made by the Department of Justice in the file and evaluated the materials placed on record.

Advocate Mehta has an extensive practice of 31 years in civil, constitutional, service, local and municipal, labour, and criminal laws. She represented the Maharashtra government at Nagpur Bench in the capacity of Assistant Government Pleader and Additional Public Prosecutor from 2013 to 2023 and has been representing the state government as an Additional Government Pleader and Additional Public Prosecutor since October 2023.

Advocate Khubalkar has a practice of more than 27 years at the Bar in civil, constitutional, service, and arbitration cases. "As the candidate belongs to the OBC category, his elevation will facilitate greater representation to the Other Backward Classes in appointments to the higher judiciary," the SC Collegium said.

Advocate Bhobe, who appeared in 45 reported judgments delivered by the Bombay High Court, mainly practises before the High Court of Bombay at Goa, the district courts and the tribunals in Goa. Advocate Joshi has an extensive practice of more than 26 years in civil, criminal, constitutional, labour and service cases. He appeared and argued in 34 reported judgments delivered, the SC Collegium noted.

For advocate Sethna, inputs provided by the Department of Justice in the file indicated that he enjoys a good personal and professional image and nothing adverse has come to notice against his integrity. "The candidate has an extensive practice which is reflected in his professional income of Rs. 45.42 lakh per annum and 84 reported judgments delivered in the cases in which he appeared/argued," said the SC Collegium.