SC Collegium recommends appointment of judicial officer as Jharkhand HC judge

New Delhi: The Supreme Court Collegium headed by Chief Justice, D.Y. Chandrachud, on Thursday recommended the appointment of judicial officer Arun Kumar Rai as a judge of the Jharkhand High Court.

Then Chief Justice of Jharkhand High Court, in consultation with his two senior-most colleagues, had recommended Rai's name on September 13, 2023.

The SC Collegium said that it has consulted a judge of the apex court who is conversant with the affairs of the Jharkhand High Court in terms of the Memorandum of Procedure.

It said it has scrutinised the materials placed on record, including the opinion of the consultee-judge and have also perused the observations made by the Department of Justice in the file.

"The input provided by the Department of Justice in the file indicate that he enjoys a good personal and professional image and that nothing adverse came to notice against his integrity," said the statement uploaded on the website of the apex court.

The SC Collegium noted that Rai joined the judicial service on May 5, 2012, and prior to joining the service, he practiced at the Bar for more than 15 years in Delhi at the trial courts as well as the High Court on criminal and civil side.

It said that the Judgment Evaluation Committee constituted by the Chief Justice of the Jharkhand High Court has rated the quality of judgments authored by Rai as 'Good', adding that he has consistently been rated as a "Very Good" officer in his ACRs throughout his entire career.

Further, the SC Collegium said that "cogent reasons have been recorded by the Collegium of the High Court" for not recommending names of two senior judicial officers and it is in agreement with the High Court Collegium for overlooking them. "The Chief Minister and the governor of the state of Jharkhand concurred with the recommendation," read the statement released by SC Collegium.