Three judicial officials elevated as Bombay HC judges

The collegium recommended the trio’s names taking into consideration that apart from the recommendation by the three seniormost judges of the high court, the chief ministers and governors of Maharashtra and Goa had concurred with the recommendation

MUMBAI: The powers that be in Mantralaya were in a celebratory mood on Wednesday. Chief minister Eknath Shinde and his deputies Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar were all smiles as they felicitated Neeraj Pradeep Dhote, principal secretary, law and judiciary department, for being elevated as a judge of the Bombay high court. Dhote told his colleagues that the rich experience he had got in Mantralaya would stand him in good stead, as his advice was sought on most important issues. Dhote will be relieved on Friday and will take oath on October 21 as a judge.

Three judicial officials elevated as Bombay HC judges

Dhote, who hails from Tembhurkheda village in Amravati district, first practised at the Nagpur bench of the Bombay high court and subsequently joined the state judicial service as a district judge. He served as the principal district and sessions judge at Pune and Jalna and was the judge in the

German Bakery blast case in Pune in 2010, a task he carried out with rigour and meticulousness.

Dhote was posted in Mantralaya as a secretary in the law and judiciary department from 2014 to 2017. After some postings in the courts, he returned to Mantralaya again as principal secretary, law and judiciary department in 2021.

Besides Dhote’s appointment, the union ministry of law and justice on Wednesday notified the appointments of two other senior judicial officers in the state as judges of the Bombay high court. The initial appointment of Abhay Jainarayanji Mantri, Shyam Chhaganlal Chandak and Dhote will be as additional judges for a period of two years.

After consulting two of his seniormost colleagues in the high court, the then acting chief justice Nitin Jamdar had on June 27, 2023 recommended the names of the three state judicial service officers for elevation as high court judges. The Supreme Court collegium, comprising Chief Justice of India Dhananjaya Chandrachud, Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice Sanjiv Khanna took up the recommendation for consideration in their meeting held on October 10.

The collegium recommended the trio’s names taking into consideration that apart from the recommendation by the three seniormost judges of the high court, the chief ministers and governors of Maharashtra and Goa had concurred with the recommendation. It also took into consideration the fact that Mantri and Chandak were earlier overlooked when names were recommended for elevation to the high court from the Maharashtra judicial service.

Chandak, who also hails from Amravati, completed his LLB in 1994 and joined the Maharashtra judicial service as a district judge in May 2008. Currently serving as the principal district and sessions judge at Pune, he earlier worked as district judge in Mumbai, Nagpur, Beed and Kolhapur. He has also been chairman of the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal at Mumbai and registrar of the high courts at Panaji and Mumbai.

Abhay Mantri is presently working as the principal district and sessions judge at Thane.