New Delhi: In an unprecedented move, the Supreme Court Collegium headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) N.V. Ramana has recommended the appointment of 68 new judges to 12 high courts at once, as the top court moves to fill vacancies in courts that are facing a severe crunch of judges.

The three-member Collegium, which also comprises Justices U.U. Lalit and Justice A.M. Khanwilkar, has recommended 16 new judges for the Allahabad high court, 8 for Kerala, 6 each for Calcutta and Rajasthan, 5 each for Gauhati and Jharkhand, 4 each for Punjab and Haryana and Madras, 2 for Chhattisgarh, and 1 for Madhya Pradesh.

According to news agency PTI, Marli Vankung becomes the first woman judicial officer from Mizoram. Her name has been sent to the Centre for elevation to the Gauhati high court.Marli Vankung is also a member of the Scheduled Tribe community, they said, adding that besides her, nine other women candidates have been recommended for elevation to various high courts.

Of the 68 names recommended, 44 are from the bar.The collegium, in meetings held on August 25 and September 1, had considered as many as 112 candidates for elevation as judges in high courts.“Among those 68 cleared for twelve high courts, 44 are from the Bar and 24 are from the judicial service,” they said.The recommendations will now need to be cleared by the Centre.

These names have been recommended close on the heels of the collegium recommending seven names for the Telangana high court on August 17 this year.In a historic decision on August 17, the five-member Collegium headed by the CJI had recommended nine names for elevation as judges of the Supreme Court, including three women.

The names were cleared by the Centre and the new judges were sworn-in on August 31. They included Justices Abhay Shreeniwas Oka, Vikram Nath, Jitendra Kumar Maheshwari, Hima Kohli and B.V. Nagarathna.