New Delhi, Sep 14 (IANS): The Supreme Court Collegium, headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud, has recommended the appointment of 11 additional judges of the Punjab & Haryana High Court as permanent judges.

On May 20, the Collegium of the Punjab & Haryana Court unanimously forwarded its recommendation naming Justices Nidhi Gupta, Sanjay Vashisth, Tribhuvan Dahiya, Namit Kumar, Harkesh Manuja, Aman Chaudhary, Naresh Singh, Harsh Bunger, Jagmohan Bansal, Deepak Manchanda, and Alok Jain.

The SC Collegium said that it has consulted other Judges of the Supreme Court who are conversant with the affairs of the Punjab & Haryana High Court in terms of the Memorandum of Procedure.

"The Committee of two judges of the Supreme Court constituted by the Chief Justice of India in terms of the Resolution dated 26 October 2017 of the Supreme Court Collegium has assessed the judgments of the Additional Judges," it noted.

It said that it has scrutinised the material placed on record including the opinion of the consultee-judges and the report of the Judgment Evaluation Committee, to assess the merit and suitability of these additional judges for appointment as permanent judges of the Punjab & Haryana High Court.

The SC Collegium said that these eleven additional judges are fit and suitable for being appointed as permanent judges against the existing vacancies.

"The Chief Ministers and Governors of the State of Punjab and Haryana have concurred with the recommendation," said the statement uploaded on the website of the apex court.