Neela Kedar Gokhale Appointed Additional Judge of Bombay High Court

Neela Kedar Gokhale Appointed Additional Judge of Bombay High Court

The Central government issued a notification for the appointment of Advocate Neela Kedar Gokhale as Additional Judge of the Bombay High Court for two years. The Supreme Court collegium, led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, had recommended the elevation of Gokhale as a Bombay High Court judge on January 10.

The High Court is currently functioning with 64 judges: 38 permanent judges and 26 additional judges. However, the sanctioned strength of the court which is the second largest in the country after the Allahabad High Court is 94. Once Ms. Gokhale takes oath, the total strength of the High Court is likely to go up to 65.

Advocate Neela Kedar Gokhale in 2008 had represented the accused- Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Purohit in the Malegaon Blast case, amongst her other clients before the High Court. Earlier this month, the High Court had dismissed a plea by Purohit, seeking his discharge in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, where Gokhale had represented him.

In 2020, Advocate Gokhale had also appeared for petitioner NGO 'In Pursuit of Justice' in its PIL, seeking to expand the scope of the Contempt of Courts Act to restrain media organizations which obstruct or tend to obstruct the administration of justice in 'sensitive criminal matters' from the time an FIR is registered, including the Sushant Singh Rajput death case.

For nearly seven years she has practiced before the Pune district court, and appeared before the Supreme Court from 2007 onwards. She has appeared in criminal and constitutional matters before the apex court, Bombay and Delhi High Courts, and has also moved and represented Public Interest Litigations seeking voting rights for armed forces personnel, gender issues, proceedings seeking codification of immunities and privileges for parliamentarians among others. She has also represented armed forces personnel before constitutional courts and tribunals, apart from matters related to family and domestic law.

The notification, issued by the Union Law Ministry Kiren Rijiju, stated that as per powers conferred under Clause 1 of Article 224 of the Constitution, President Droupadi Murmu has appointed advocate Gokhale to be additional judge of the High Court.

Her appointment takes the strength of women judges in the high court to two digits. She will be the 10th woman judge.