The Delhi High Court on Monday witnessed the oath of office of two new female judges. Acting Chief Justice Vipin Sanghi administered the oath of office to Poonam A Bamba and Swarana Kanta Sharma as Judges of the Delhi High Court, according to news agency ANI report.
It is worth noting that the new appointments take the number of judges in the court to 35 against a sanctioned strength of 60. With these new appointments, the number of women judges in Delhi High Court now stands at nine.
The Ministry of Law and Justice last week notified the appointment of new judges to the High Courts of Delhi, which said "in exercise of the power conferred by clause (1) of Article 217 and by clause (1) of Article Article 224 of the Constitution of India, the President, after consultation with the Chief Justice of India, is pleased to appoint Poonam A Bamba and Swarana Kanta Sharma as Judges of the Delhi High Courts, w.e.f. the date they assume charge of their respective offices."
Law and Justice Ministry, in February month also appointed four judges as Delhi High Court Judges named Justice Neena Bansal Krishna, Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma, and Justice Anoop Kumar Mendiratta. Poonam A Bamba was the District Judge of Saket District court.
Earlier, she practiced as an advocate in Delhi District Courts and High Courts for about five years from 1983-1987, and worked as Law Officer/Deputy Chief Officer (Law) with Punjab National Bank and Central Bank of India, respectively from 1987 to 1996.
She also worked with the Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI), Mumbai as Division Chief (Legal) and Joint Legal Advisor from 1996-2002. She joined Judiciary in Delhi Higher Judicial Services on December 5, 2002.
Meanwhile, Swarana Kanta Sharma was the District Judge of Rohini District of Delhi. She completed her LLB in the year 1991 and became a Magistrate at a very young age of 24 and Sessions Judge the day she turned 35. She also holds an LLM degree and is a trained Judicial Mediator. She is a fellow of Commonwealth Judicial Education Institute, Canada.
The Supreme Court Collegium recently in its meeting held on February 1, 2022, had approved the proposal for the elevation of six judicial officers as Judges in the Delhi High Court.
(With inputs from agencies)
