Chief Justice BR Gavai's nephew, 13 judges take oath at Bombay High Court

Chief Justice of India BR Gavai's nephew Raj Wakode and 13 other judges were sworn in as judges of the Bombay High Court on Tuesday. This is said to be a rare occasion where so many judges have been sworn in at the same time in a high court.

Acting Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar administered the oath, a week after their appointment by President Droupadi Murmu. The Supreme Court Collegium had recommended their appointment on August 19 and the central government had cleared the names a week later.

With the new additions, the High Court judges' strength now stands at 82, still 12 less than the sanctioned strength of 94.

The judges who took oath were Justices Siddheshwar Thombre, Mehroz Pathan, Ranjitsinha Bhonsale, Nandesh Deshpande, Amit Jamsandekar, Ashish Chavan, Sandesh Patil, Vaishali Patil-Jadhav, Abasaheb Shinde, Shreeram Shirsat, Hiten Venegavkar, Farhan Dubash, Rajnish Vyas and Raj Wakode.

After the swearing-in, at night, all the newly-appointed judges were informed about their sitting across various benches of the High Court. They will start hearing cases soon while sitting on division benches with senior judges.

Justice Venegavkar worked as a public prosecutor of Maharashtra and often appeared for the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and other central agencies. Justice Patil appeared for the National Investigation Agency, while Justice Shirsat also represented central agencies like the ED and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in leading cases.

Justice Chavan, a special public prosecutor for the state in several matters, was an empanelled counsel for the ED, and Justice Dubash was a secretary for one of India's oldest bar associations - the Bombay Bar Association. Justice Deshpande, based in Nagpur, worked as the assistant Solicitor General of India for the Nagpur bench of the High Court.

The only woman on the list, Justice Jadhav, is from Aurangabad and her appointment takes the strength of women judges to 13, the highest in years in the High Court.

Justice Wakode, from Nagpur, is CJI Gavai's distant relative and had been representing the government and municipal corporations for many years, while Justice Bhonsale is the son of the late Barrister Raja Bhonsale, former advocate general of Maharashtra and judge of the Bombay High Court. Justice Pathan is also said to have had his private practice before taking the oath of office.

- Ends

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