Justice Kureshi takes oath as Chief Justice of Tripura HC

Justice Akil Abdulhamid Kureshi, former Judge of the Gujarat and Bombay High Court, on Saturday took oath as the fifth Chief Justice of Tripura High Court.

The new Chief Justice was sworn-in by Tripura Governor Ramesh Bais at a simple ceremony at the Durbar Hall of the old Raj Bhavan.

The swearing-in ceremony was attended by Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb, Deputy Chief Minister Jishnu Dev Varma, their cabinet colleagues, two other judges -- Subhashish Talapatra and Arindam Lodh.

Leaders of different political parties, senior police officers, civil officials, and para-military officers were also present along with seven sitting judges of Bombay High Court and two sitting judges of Gujarat High Court.

After keeping it pending for more than six months, the Department of Justice under the Union Ministry of Law and Justice last week notified the appointment of Justice Kureshi as Chief Justice of the Tripura High Court. Senior judge from the Gujarat High Court, Justice Kureshi was serving as a judge of the Bombay High Court before his transfer to Tripura.

In May this year, the Supreme Court collegium headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi had recommended Justice Kureshi's elevation as Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court, but the recommendation was not approved by the Department of Justice.

After the collegium on September 5 passed a resolution saying the Centre had twice returned the proposal of elevation of Justice Kureshi to the Madhya Pradesh High Court, the Gujarat High Advocates' Association moved the apex court taking objection to the Centre's reluctance on the appointment.

On September 19, the Supreme Court said a decision had been taken on the collegium recommendation for the elevation of Justice Kureshi and it will be published on the Supreme Court's website.

However, the Collegium on September 20, modified its recommendation and approved the appointment of Justice Kureshi as Chief Justice of the Tripura High Court.

Along with Tripura, separate High Courts were also set up in Manipur and Meghalaya in March 2013.

Since 1975, Sikkim has a separate High Court also. Earlier, the seven northeastern states were under the Gauhati High Court.