Jharkhand High Court and (inset) Justice Bhagwati Prasad

Ranchi, July 20: Justice Bhagwati Prasad, the senior- most judge of Gujarat High Court, is set to become the new chief justice of Jharkhand.

According to sources, the Supreme Court collegium recommended Prasad’s name after the Union law ministry refused to accept the recommendation made by the collegium to transfer the chief justice of Himachal Pradesh, Kurian Joseph, to Jharkhand.

Sources said the Union law ministry sought the consent of Jharkhand Governor M.O.H. Farook (as the state is under central rule) before sending it to President for notifying the appointment. In normal circumstances, the chief minister gives his consent to the appointment of the chief justice in a state.

Raj Bhavan sources said the governor’s consent was forwarded to the law ministry a couple of days ago. Justice Prasad, who will serve here for 10 months, is likely to take oath in the first week of August.

The post of chief justice in the state has been lying vacant since April 30 this year after Gyan Sudha Misra was elevated to the post of a Supreme Court judge.

Thereafter, Justice M.Y. Eqbal was appointed as acting chief justice. Justice Sushil Harkauli replaced Eqbal on June 11 after the latter was appointed the chief justice of Madras High Court.

In fact, the Supreme Court collegium had also recommended the shifting of Justice Sushil Harkauli to Allahabad High Court as he is senior to Justice Kurian.

The collegium felt that unless Justice Harkauli was shifted to Allahabad High Court, Justice Kurian Joseph’s transfer could not come through.

But the law ministry shot down this proposal too.

Originally hailing from Rajasthan, Justice Prasad, born on May 13, 1949, holds a master’s degree in law from University of Jodhpur. He got enrolled in Rajasthan Bar council as an advocate in 1972.

He also used to teach law students of Jodhpur University and wrote a thesis on “fundamentalism, law and national integration: a study with special reference to India”.

He was elevated to the post of a judge of Rajasthan High Court on April 6, 1996, and later transferred to Gujarat High Court in February 2008.

Justice Prasad is said to have made several attempts to solve the problems of the subordinate judges and improve the performance of the subordinate courts of Rajasthan to check corruption.