Justice Kureshi Sworn In As Chief Justice of Tripura HC

Justice Akil Abdul Hamid Kureshi  on  Saturday, November 16 took oath as the fifth Chief Justice of Tripura High Court. He was sworn in by Tripura Governor Ramesh Bais the Durbar Hall of the old Raj Bhavan in Agartal. The swearing-in ceremony was attended by Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb, Deputy Chief Minister Jishnu Dev Varma, their Cabinet colleagues and two other judges of the Tripura High Court – Subhashish Talapatra and Arindam Lodh. Leaders of different political parties, senior police officers, civil officials, and paramilitary officers were also present along with seven sitting judges of the Bombay High Court and two sitting judges of the Gujarat High Court. The Department of Justice under the Union Ministry of Law and Justice last week notified the appointment of Justice Kureshi as the Chief Justice of the Tripura High Court. Justice Kureshi was serving as a judge of the Bombay High Court before his transfer to Tripura, reports IANS. He was earlier recommended by Supreme Court of India’s Collegium for elevation as the Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court, but the recommendation was not approved of by the Department of Justice at the centre.& Bench says Justice Kurash takes over from Chief Justice Sanjay Karol, who was recently transferred to the Patna High Court. Justice Kureshi, a senior judge originally from the Gujarat High Court, had been serving as a judge of the Bombay High Court following a transfer until his appointment as Tripura High Court Chief Justice. Justice Akil Kureshi started his practice in 1983 after obtaining an LL.B. degree that same year. He was appointed as an additional judge of the Gujarat High Court in March 2004 and was confirmed as a permanent judge in 2005. His appointment as Chief Justice of the Tripura High Court was cleared by the Central Government earlier this month. The question of Justice Kureshi’s elevation as Chief Justice has been mired in controversy since last year, after it was revealed that Justice AS Dave – a judge less senior to Kureshi would be appointed as Acting Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court after Justice Subhash Reddy’s elevation to the Supreme Court. Justice Kureshi was the senior most judge of the Gujarat High Court. Justice Kureshi was transferred to the Bombay High Court, even as the Gujarat Bar reacted strongly. Eventually, Justice Kureshi served as Acting Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court for a short period, before he assumed his duties at the Bombay High Court. Thereafter, in May 2019, the Collegium initially recommended the elevation of Justice Akil Kureshi as Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court. However, the Central Government returned his file to the Collegium twice, prompting the Collegium to eventually recommend that Justice Kureshi be appointed to helm the Tripura High Court, says Bar & Bench.