The Supreme Court Collegium comprising of Chief Justice of India, Dr. DY Chandrachud, Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice Sanjiv Khanna, on 12-07-2023, resolved to recommend Advocate Biswadeep Bhattacharjee for appointment as a Judge of the High Court of Meghalaya1.
On 12-08-2022, the Chief Justice of the High Court of Meghalaya recommended Biswadeep Bhattacharjee’s name in consultation with the two members of the Collegium. The constitutional authorities of the State of Meghalaya did not give any input in respect of the recommendation. Therefore, the proposal was forwarded by the Department of Justice to the Supreme Court by invoking Para 14 of the Memorandum of Procedure which provides that, if the comments of the Governor on the advice of the Chief Minister are not received within six weeks from the date of receipt of the proposal, it shall be presumed that the constitutional authorities in the State have nothing to add to the proposal and the proposal may accordingly be processed.
Following the consultation procedure laid down in the Memorandum of Procedure, the Supreme Court Collegium scrutinized and evaluated the material placed on record including the observations of the Department of Justice in the file.
The Collegium observed that Advocate Biswadeep Bhattacharjee has a standing of nearly 30 years at the Bar and has appeared before the High Court in a number of civil, criminal, service and constitutional cases. He was appointed as amicus curiae in two criminal appeals and has been holding the office of Additional Advocate General of the State of Meghalaya since 2018. It was further observed that Advocate Bhattacharjee has good knowledge and experience of handling civil and criminal matters under the Administration of Justice Rules applicable in the State of Meghalaya; hence his experience would be a value addition to the Meghalaya High Court.
