On August 21, 2024, names of Mr. Ajay Digpaul, Mr. Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar, and Ms. Shwetasree Majumder were recommended for appointment as Judges of the Delhi High Court by the Supreme Court Collegium. The names were recommended to the SC Collegium by the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court in consultation with the two senior most judges of the High Court on October 25, 2023.
In the detailed 4 page long collegium resolution, the SC Collegium finds the above candidates as fit and suitable for being appointed as Judges of the High Court. For this, the resolution states that the Court has scrutinized and evaluated the materials on the record and have also perused the observations by the Dept. of Justice.
For the IP-centric parts that are of specific interest to our readers: Ms. Shwetasree Majumder, the Managing Partner of Fidus Law Chambers, is a veteran IP advocate with a practice of more than 21 years, as noted by the SC in its resolution. Long time readers will remember that Ms. Majumder was also one of the early bloggers on SpicyIP, in 2006-07! Notably, the resolution remarks that “The expertise of the candidate in the area of Intellectual Property Rights is of significant importance in view of the pendency of such matters in the High Court which are being dealt with by a dedicated IP Division.” We especially look forward to her presence on the bench, in this regard!
And in fact, Mr. Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar is also the Central Government Standing Counsel for the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks in the Delhi High Court and over the past few years has been instrumental in presenting the CGPDTM’s case before the IPD in numerous matters.
As explained here, the recommendation will now be placed before the Union Minister of Law, Justice and Company Affairs, who shall then put it up before the Prime Minister to advise the President for the appointment of the judges under Article 217 of the Constitution.