CHANDIGARH: The Chief Justice of the high court Justice J V Gupta an erstwhile RSS functionary has succeeded in blocking the appointment of two eminent Sikh legal luminaries Mr Tara Singh Chima and Mr Harmohan Singh Brar along with four others as judges of the high court.
According to reports the names of two judges were cleared by the central govt recently.
According to sources Gupta wants only his nominees to be made judges and says the others have been recommended at the political level. These include Mr V.K. Bali a lawyer from Haryana Mr G.G.Garg Mr H.S.Bedi Mr V.K. Jhangi and Mr Navdip Sodhi. Apart from these Mr B.S. Nehra and Mrs. H.K Sandhu also figured in the list
Mr A.S. Sukhija a senior Janata Party leader ina letter to the Union law minister says that Gupta is misusing the concession given by the center that no one should be made high court judge if the person belonged to the same state Gupta belongs to Punjab. Mr Sukhija says much could be said about Gupta’s own recommendees except about Mr Nehru and Mrs Sandhu. There ts no controversy about these two.
Mr Sukhija also took Gupta to task for ignoring the just claim of Jawahar Lal Gupta a leading advocate of Punjab. Mr J.L. Gupta name was recommended by three successive CJs but he does not find favour with the present CJ.
Mr Chima and Mr Brar are among the most acclaimed judges known for their impartiality and integrity. Mrs Sandhu when appointed will be the first lady to be elevated to the bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
Article extracted from this publication >> February 15, 1991
