Justice Ritesh Kumar and Praveen Kumar took oath as judges of High Court on January 8, 2026. Both the judges have been elevated from the Bar. The notification of appointment of Justice Ritesh Kumar and Praveen Kumar as judges of the High Court was issued on January 5, 2026 by Jagannath Srinivasan, Joint Secretary, Appointments Division, Department of Justice, Ministry of Law and Justice, Government of India. The notification regarding their appointment by the President of India was issued in exercise of powers conferred by Article 217 (1) of the Constitution of India. The name of Advocate Ritesh Kumar was recommended by the Supreme Court Collegium on February 20, 2025. The name of Advocate Praveen Kumar was recommended on July 1, 2025.
The former will sit with Justices Rajeev Ranjan Prasad as part of the Division Bench-II and the latter will sit with Justice Mohit Kumar Sah as part of the Division Bench-III from January 9, 2026.
Both were sworn in during a brief ceremony held at the High Court premises, which was attended by senior judicial officials, legal fraternity members, and the family members of the judges.
Now the Court as 37 judges. The Court continues to suffer from a deficit of 16 judges who have not been appointed against the sanctioned strength.
After Justice Sangam Kumar Sahoo, the new Chief Justice took charge on January 7, 2026, the new constitution of benches have been notified with effect from January 9, 2026. On his first day in the High Court, he sat along with Justice Sudhir Singh. There are five Division Benches and one special bench headed by the Chief Justice.
Division Bench (DB)- I comprising of the Chief Justice and Justice Sudhir Singh will hear i)PIL matters, ii))Relating to Validity of Acts, Rules and Regulations etc. of Central Government, iii)Relating to validity of all Acts, Rules and Regulations etc of State Government, iv) Judicial Service, v) Trade and Commerce –(Works Contract– Tender and Blacklisting), vi) LPA arising from service (From Year 2025 onwards), vii) LPA arising from Education (From Year 2025 onwards), viii) LPA arising from other than service (From Year 2025 onwards) and ix) Specially Assigned Matters.
DB-II (Civil Application Motion Bench) comprising of Justices Rajeev Ranjan Prasad and Ritesh Kumar will hear i)Civil Review (DB) other than Tied up, ii) LPA arising from service (Up to Year 2024), iii) LPA arising from Education (Up to Year 2024), iv) LPA arising from other than service (Up to Year 2024), v) MJC (DB) All Matters Except Tied Up, vi)Commercial Appellate Division Matters, iv) Supreme Court Appeals, v) Cr. Appeal (DB) and All I.As,. vi)Cr. Appeal (DB) Hearing Matter from year 2023 onwards, vii)Cr.WJC (DB)-BCC Act and Habeas Corpus, viii) Govt. Appeal (DB), ix) Original Cr. Misc.(DB), x) Death reference and xi) Specially Assigned matters.
DB-III (Criminal Application Motion Bench) comprising of the Justices Mohit Kumar Shah Justice Praveen Kumar will hear i) Relating to all direct and Indirect Taxation etc. (Excise, Income tax, central taxation etc)- Central Statutes ii) State Taxation matters, M.V. (Taxation)- Orders, Admission and Hearing, iii) Company Appeal (DB), iv) Cr. Appeal (DB) and All I.As., v)Cr. Appeal (DB) Hearing Matter from year 2020 to 2022, vi) CAT Matters - Writ and Appeals and vii) Specially Assigned matters.
DB-IV comprising of the Justices Bibek Chaudhuri and Dr. Anshuman will hear i)Matrimonial Reference, ii) Misc. Appeal(DB), iii) Cr. Appeal (DB) and All I.As., iv) Cr. Appeal (DB) Hearing Matter From 2011 Year 2019, v) Govt. Appeal (DB) – Hearing, vi) Original Cr. Misc.(DB) - Hearing and vii) Specially Assigned matters.
DB-V comprising of the Justices Nani Tagia and Sunil Dutta Mishra will hear i)Matrimonial Reference, ii) Misc. Appearl(DB), iii) Cr. Appeal (DB) and All I.As., iv) Cr. Appeal (DB) Hearing Matter up to Year 2010, v) Govt. Appeal (DB) – Hearing, vi) Original Cr. Misc.(DB) - Hearing and vii) Specially Assigned matters.
The Special Bench which will seat on Friday will be headed by Chief Justice to hear i) Request case and ii) Specially assigned matters.
Besides these cases there are 58 Groups of cases which have been assigned to the DBs and Single Judge benches.
No comments:
Post a Comment