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  • /Advocate Indu Malhotra officially appointed Supreme Court Judge

Advocate Indu Malhotra officially appointed Supreme Court Judge

Advocate Indu Malhotra officially appointed Supreme Court Judge

Indu Malhotra

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On January 22, the apex court collegium's file had recommended the elevation of Justice Joseph and Malhotra to the Law Ministry

Senior advocate Indu Malhotra has been officially appointed judge of the Supreme Court of India.

The government had earlier cleared the file of the judge to elevate her to the top court.

Justice KM Joseph, the current Chief Justice of Uttarakhand High Court was the other name recommended by the Supreme Court Collegium.

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The government has asked the Supreme Court collegium to reconsider its recommendation for elevating Justice K M Joseph to the apex court which the Supreme Court Bar Association President termed as "disturbing"

Malhotra is the first woman lawyer to be directly appointed as a judge in India's highest court and the seventh woman judge since India's independence.

Joseph's elevation has gained political undertones with th Congress accusing PM Modi of indulging in "revenge politics" by "refusing" to clear the country's most senior chief justice, K M Joseph, to the Supreme Court.

On January 22, the apex court collegium's file had recommended the elevation of Justice Joseph and Malhotra to the Law Ministry.

After processing the file in the first week of February, the recommendations were kept in abeyance as the government wanted to elevate only Malhotra.

The government felt that while recommending the name of Justice Joseph, the collegium has "disregarded seniority and regional representation" since he is 42nd in the seniority list of 669 high court judges.

(With PTI inputs)