As many as 14 of the 221 candidates recommended by the Supreme Court Collegium for appointment as judges of the High Courts over the past two and a half years are related to sitting or former judges of the Supreme Court or the High Courts. .This amounts to 6.3% of all the names approved. Of the 14 candidates with relatives in the judiciary, the appointment of only 1 candidate, that of advocate Rohit Kapoor for the Punjab and Haryana High Court, remains to be cleared by the Central government, the data released by the Supreme Court shows. Of the 221 total candidates, 29 names are yet to get government approval.The Supreme Court of India made the details public on Monday, saying the step is being taken for the “awareness of the public”. “The person recommended for appointment is treated to be related to a sitting/retired Judge of a High Court and/or the Supreme Court, if such Judge is/was his/her (i) Father, (ii) Mother, (iii) Father-in-law, (iv) Mother-in-law, (v) Sister, (vi) Brother, (vii) Sister-in-law, or (viii) Brother-in-law,” the top court has said. .According to the figures provided, the High Court Collegium sent the names of 303 candidates to the Supreme Court Collegium headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud during his tenure from November 9, 2022 to November 10, 2024. The Collegium cleared 170 (56%) of these names. Twelve of these candidates (7%) were related to former or sitting judges of the Constitutional Courts. Under CJI Sanjiv Khanna, the top court Collegium approved 51 of the 103 names it received from November 11, 2024 till date.Two of the names approved are related to the former or sitting justices. .Below some of the names approved by the Collegium with family connections in the judiciary..Justice Bibhu Datta Guru.Justice Bibhu Datta Guru of the Chhattisgarh High Court is the brother-in-law of the Supreme Court’s Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra. Justice Guru was recommended for appointment by the Supreme Court Collegium on July 30, 2024, and the name was cleared by the government on August 12, 2024. At this time, Justice Mishra was already a judge of the top court. He was elevated to the Supreme Court on May 19, 2023. His parent High Court is Chhattisgarh. However, Justice Mishra is not a part of the Collegium. .Justice Nupur Bhati.The Supreme Court Collegium approved the name of Justice Nupur Bhati for appointment as a judge of the Rajasthan High Court on November 23, 2022, and it was notified by the government on January 13, 2023. Her husband, Justice Pushpender Singh Bhati, is also a judge at the same Court. Justice Pushpender Bhati was elevated as a judge in November 2016 and is currently the third seniormost judge in the Rajasthan High Court. .Justice Yogendra Kumar Purohit.Justice Yogendra Purohit became a judge of the Rajasthan High Court in January 2023. His name was recommended by the Collegium in November 2022. His two brothers-in-law, Justices Manoj Vyas and Uma Shankar Vyas are also judges at the same Court. . Justice Tejas Karia .Justice Tejas Karia was recommended for judgeship by the Supreme Court on August 29, 2024. The central government took nearly six months to clear his name. His father, Justice Dhiren Govindji Karia, has been the judge of the Gujarat High Court. Justice Karia’s brother, Justice BD Karia, is a sitting judge of the Gujarat High Court. .Rohit Kapoor.Advocate Rohit Kapoor’s name was recommended by the Supreme Court January 4, 2024 for appointment as a judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. However, the Central government is yet to clear it. Kapoor is the son-in-law of former Punjab and Haryana High Court Justice Amar Dutt Sharma. .[Read Supreme Court's detailed report]
