Justice GS Sandhawalia To Be Acting Chief Justice Of Punjab & Haryana High Court

The Central government has notified the appointment of Justice Gurmeet Singh Sandhawalia of the Punjab and Haryana High Court as acting Chief Justice of the High Court.

The appointment is effective from the date Justice Ritu Bahri relinquishes the charge of Acting Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, following her elevation as Chief Justice of the Uttarakhand High Court.

Last year the division bench of Justice G.S. Sandhawalia and Justice Harpreet Kaur Jeewan stayed the demolition drive carried out by the Haryana authorities in communal violence-hit Nuh and Gurugram.

A division bench of Justice G.S Sandhawalia and Justice Lapita Banerjee also adjudicated Haryana District Judge Appointment case, wherein it directed Haryana govt to accept the recommendations of the High Court made on appointing 13 judicial officers as additional district and session judges.

The bench opined that the State government's move to seek a legal opinion from the Union Government in the matter "would amount to a serious assault on the independence of the functioning of the High Court."

Justice Sandhawalia has done L.L.B from the Panjab University, Chandigarh in 1989 and he enrolled as an Advocate with the Bar Council of Punjab and Haryana, in the same year.

The judge has represented various authorities as a lawyer, including  the Punjab Financial Corporation, the Punjab State Cooperative Supply and Marketing Federation (MARKFED), Punjab State Electricity Board, Food Corporation of India, Punjab State Agricultural and Marketing Board.

Justice Sandhawalia was elevated to the Bench in 2011, as an additional Judge and became permanent judge of the High Court in 2014. Justice Sandhawalia is also a member of the Mediation and Conciliation Committee, Recruitment and Promotion Committee (Superior Judicial Service) and  Recruitment and Promotion Committee (Subordinate Judicial Service).

Recent judgements and orders from the bench comprising Justice G.S. Sandhawalia can be accessed here. 

Click here to read/download the order