BREAKING| Centre Notifies Appointment Of Manipur High Court Chief Justice 3 Months After Supreme Court Collegium Recommendation

The Central Government has notified the appointment of Justice Siddharth Mridul, judge of the Delhi High Court, as the Chief Justice of the Manipur High Court, pursuant to a recommendation made by the Supreme Court collegium on July 6.

The High Court of the north-eastern State, which has been gripped in violent ethnic conflict since May, has been functioning without a regular Chief Justice since February 4 after the previous Chief Justice PV Sanjay Kumar was elevated to the Supreme Court. Justice MV Muralidaran, the seniormost judge of the Manipur High Court, is currently serving as its Acting Chief Justice.

On September 27, the Supreme Court had expressed concerns at the collegium recommendations remaining pending with the Central Government. The bench led by Justice SK Kaul told Attorney General for India R Venkataramani that the proposal for appointment of Chief Justice of a "sensitive" High Court (alluding to the Manipur High Court) is also among the pending resolutions. Last week, Attorney General informed the Court that the notification for Justice Mridul's appointment as Manipur HC CJ will be issued soon.

In a related development, the Supreme Court collegium last week recommended the transfer of Justice MV Muralidaran, who is presently the Acting Chief Justice of the Manipur High Court, to Calcutta High Court.