Centre notifies appointment of Delhi HC judge Siddharth Mridul as Manipur HC chief justice

New Delhi: The Centre on Monday notified the appointment of Delhi High Court judge, Justice Siddharth Mridul as the Manipur High Court Chief Justice, more than three months after the Collegium's recommendation.

A notification by the Law Ministry stated, “In exercise of the power conferred by clause (1) of Article 217 of the Constitution of India, the President is pleased to appoint Justice Mridul, judge of the Delhi High Court, to be Chief Justice of the Manipur High Court with effect from the date he assumes charge of his office”.

Justice Mridul was appointed as a judge of the High Court of Delhi on March 13, 2008, and has been functioning as the senior-most puisne judge in his parent high court.

On October 9, the Centre told the Supreme Court that it will shortly issue a notification for appointment of the Chief Justice of the Manipur High Court.

On September 26, a bench led by Justice S K Kaul had told Attorney General R Venkataramani that the “appointment of Chief Justice of a very sensitive court is pending”.

The Collegium, in a resolution on July 5, had said the office of the Chief Justice of the High Court of Manipur fell vacant in February 2023 consequent upon the elevation of Justice P V Sanjay Kumar to the Supreme Court of India, therefore, appointment to that office is required to be made.