On Friday, the Apex Court directed the collegium of the Himachal Pradesh High Court to review the recommendations for the promotion of two senior-most district and sessions judges to the position of high court judges.

The Supreme Court noted that an individual High Court Justice cannot independently reconsider a recommendation; such a review must be carried out collectively by the High Court Collegium.

The observation came from a bench of Justice Hrishikesh Roy and Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra, which delivered its verdict on a plea filed by the two senior-most district and sessions judges. The judges had alleged that their merit and seniority were not taken into account by the High Court Collegium during the selection process for high court judges.

"There was no collective consultation & deliberation by the members of the high court collegium," the bench said while pronouncing the judgment.

It said, "In light of the above, the high court collegium should now reconsider the names of Chirag Bhanu Singh & Arvind Malhotra for elevation as judges of the high court, following the Supreme Court collegium decision dated January 4, 2024..".