Cyriac Joseph elevated Supreme Court judge

New Delhi: The Supreme Court collegium of judges has recommended the elevation of the Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court, Cyriac Joseph, as a Supreme Court judge.
Justice Joseph (61), who hails from Kerala, will have a tenure of about three years and eight months. According to Law Ministry sources, the appointment is expected shortly.
With this, the court will have its full strength of 26 judges.
However, Justice H.K. Sema is due to retire in the first week of June.
Justice Joseph was appointed judge of the Kerala High Court in July 1994 and after about a month he was shifted to the Delhi High Court, where he served till September 2001.
He was sent back to the Kerala High Court in September 2001, and after serving there till March 2005, he was elevated Chief Justice of the Uttarakand High Court. In January 2006, he was transferred to Karnataka.
The collegium has also recommended the elevation of Justice P.D. Dinakaran, judge of the Madras High court, as Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court. Initially, Justice Dinakaran was tipped to become the Chief Justice of the Orissa High Court in the place of Justice A.K. Ganguly, whose transfer as Chief Justice of the Madras High Court is to be notified in a couple of days.
Patna High Court CJ
Meanwhile, President Pratibha Patil has appointed Justice Rajendra Mal Lodha, judge of the Rajasthan High Court, Chief Justice of the Patna High Court. The appointment will be effective from the date he assumes charge.
Legal Correspondent
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