Karnataka high court. (File photo)The Supreme Court collegium led by Chief Justice of India U U Lalit, in its meeting held on September 28, recommended the elevation of Justice Prasanna B Varale of the Bombay High Court as Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court. Justice Varale’s elevation will be after the Central government clears his appointment and issues a notification for the same.
Along with Justice Varale, three senior judges of the Bombay High Court were recommended to be elevated as chief justices of other high courts or as Supreme Court judge.
Born on June 23, 1962 at Nipani, Justice Varale graduated in Arts and Law from Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Maratha University and enrolled as an advocate on August 12, 1985. Justice Varale joined the Chamber of advocate S N Loya and practiced civil and criminal law.
He was also a lecturer at Ambedkar Law College in Aurangabad from 1990 to 1992. He worked as assistant government pleader and additional public prosecutor at the high court bench in Aurangabad and as additional standing counsel for the Union of India. He was appointed as a judge of the Bombay High Court on July 18, 2008.
Earlier this month, a bench led by Justice Varale allowed pleas by nine persons, including Dadra and Nagar Haveli (DNH) Union Territory administrator Praful Khoda Patel, seeking to quash a Mumbai Police FIR over the death of parliamentarian Mohan Delkar on February 22 last year.
The high court bench led by him also initiated a suo motu PIL on a stalled project to publish the writings and speeches of Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar.
A division bench led by Justice Prasanna B Varale had also initiated a suo motu PIL in January this year wherein the court took cognisance of a news report about the risky journey of girls from Khirkhindi village in Satara district, who had to row a boat across the Koyna dam every day to reach their school. It had asked the Maharashtra government to provide help to school children facing a similar plight in the state.
The Supreme Court collegium, in its meeting held on September 26 had recommended the elevation of Justice Dipankar Datta, Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court, as a judge at the apex court. Earlier this year, two Bombay High Court judges Justice S S Shinde and Justice Amjad A Sayed were elevated as chief justices of Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh high courts, respectively. Justice Shinde retired last month. In April 2019, Justice Abhay S Oka of the Bombay High Court was elevated as the Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court and in August 2021 he was elevated as a Supreme Court judge.