Jahanvi Agarwal
In the Durbar Hall of the Governor’s official residence at Raj Bhavan in Mumbai, Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyay took his oath to serve as Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court. In the presence of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Governor Ramesh Bais administered the oath to CJ Upadhyay.
Justice Devendra Upadhyaya of the Allahabad High Court was recommended for appointment as Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court on July 6 2023 by the Supreme Court Collegium, which included Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, and Justice Sanjiv Khanna.
The collegium remarked that CJ Upadhyaya has the expertise of eleven years of administering justice and that the Allahabad High Court will be represented among the Chief Justices by his selection.
The Collegium pronounced that:
“On appointment of Mr Justice Upadhyaya, the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad which is the largest High Court with a total judge strength of 160 would get adequate representation among the Chief Justices of High Courts…the Collegium is of the considered view that Mr Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya is fit and suitable in all respects for being appointed as Chief Justice of the High Court of Bombay”.
The recommendation was made as the retirement of former Chief Justice of the Bombay HC Justice RD Dhanuka created a vacancy on May 30, 2023. The acting Chief Justice of the Court at the moment is Justice Nitin Jamdar.
On November 21, 2011, Justice Upadhyaya received an elevation to the Allahabad High Court, where he is currently the third-most senior judge.
According to paragraph 3 of the Memorandum of Procedure for Appointment of Chief Justice of a High Court, which states that Chief Justices are appointed based on seniority subject to merit and honesty, with equitable representation provided to various High Courts, the appointment was made in accordance with that paragraph’s provisions.
The appointment of CJ Upadhyay was announced by the Centre earlier this week, and today’s oath-taking ceremony was held at Raj Bhavan.