Finally, Centre notifies Advocate Sundaresan's appointment as Bombay High Court judge
Finally, Centre notifies Advocate Sundaresan’s appointment as Bombay High Court judge
The Centre on Thursday appointed Advocate Somasekhar Sundaresan as an additional judge of the Bombay High Court two years after his name was first recommended by the High Court Collegium in 2021.
The Supreme Court Collegium headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud had reiterated its recommendation last year.
The Bombay High Court had recommended the name of Sundaresan on October 4, 2021. On February 16, 2022, the Supreme Court Collegium recommended Sundaresan’s name for appointment as a Judge of the Bombay High Court. On November 25, 2022, the Centre had sought reconsideration of the said recommendation.
Brushing aside the Centre’s objection, the Collegium, while reiterating Sundaresan’s name, said, “All citizens have the right to free speech and expression under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution. Expression of views by a candidate does not disentitle him to hold a constitutional office so long as the person proposed for judgeship is a person of competence, merit and integrity.”
On the Centre’s objection that he had aired his views in social media on several matters that are the subject matter of consideration before the courts, the Collegium said, “The manner in which the candidate has expressed his views does not justify the inference that he is a highly biased opinionated person or that he has been selectively critical on the social media on the important policies, initiatives and directions of the Government (as indicated in the objections of the Department of Justice) nor is there any material to indicate that the expressions used by the candidate are suggestive of his links with any political party with strong ideological leanings.”
The resolution had also stated that Advocate Sundaresan has specialised in commercial law and would be an asset to the Bombay High Court, which has a large volume of cases of commercial and securities laws, among other branches.
Interestingly, Somasekhar is also part of the Supreme Court’s expert committee that was tasked to review the extant framework of the stock market’s regulatory mechanism, following the sharp slide in shares of listed Adani Group companies after US short-seller Hindenburg Research’s January 24 report.
He has also served on several committees and working groups established by Sebi and the Ministry of Corporate Affairs to review and recommend changes to the country’s legal and regulatory system.
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