New Delhi: Seventy-one additional judges of seven high courts were today made permanent judges even as Justice C S Karnan, who recently courted controversy by “staying” CJI’s transfer order, was shifted to Calcutta High Court.

Justice Ajit Singh of Rajasthan High Court has been elevated as Chief Justice of Gauhati High Court while Justice Satish Kumar Mittal of Punjab and Haryana High Court has been sent as Chief Justice of Rajasthan High Court.

The Supreme Court collegium had recommended their elevation last month. A set of Law Ministry statements said 29 additional judges from the Bombay High Court, 13 from Calcutta, 11 from Andhra Pradesh/Telangana, six each from Kerala and Chhattisgarh, five from Karnataka and one from Patna stand elevated as permanent judges. Officials of the Department of Justice present at the press conference of Law Minister D V Sadananda Gowda earlier this week had told reporters that out of 89 recommendations to elevate additional judges of high courts as permanent judges, 66 files have been cleared by the government. They had said 115 names for appointments and elevations are in the pipeline at the moment. Justice Karnan had on February 15 stayed his transfer order from Madras High Court to Calcutta High Court, a development which took place after the apex court had asked the Chief Justice of Madras High Court not to assign any judicial work to him. The same day the apex court had suspended Justice Karnan’s order and made it clear that all administrative and judicial orders passed by him after the issuance of proposal of his transfer from Madras High Court to Calcutta High Court shall remain stayed till further orders. — PTI