Justice Jagdish Bhalla appointed HC Chief Justice of HP

New Delhi, Jan 16 (UNI) Justice Jagdish Bhalla was today appointed the Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court.

Justice Bhalla, whose wife was allegedly involved in Noida Land scam, where she was facing allegations of cornering a plot of 7200 sq mts having market value of Rs 7.20 crores at throwaway prices, was earlier recommended by Supreme Court Judges' collegium for being appointed as Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court.

The then President of India A P J Abdul Kalam had refused to sign it and had sent the file back to the government for reconsideration.

The name of Justice Bhalla, who is presently working as acting Chief Justice of the Chhattisgarh High Court, has been cleared by President Pratibha Patil.

The decision of Ms Patil is likely to raise eyebrows in judicial circles as the move was already on for collecting signature for impeachment of Justice Bhalla.

The organisation for judicial accountabilty, headed by former union law minister, and senior apex court lawyer Shanti Bhushan is spearheading the campaign for impeachment of Justice Bhalla.

UNI AKS/SC KD RAI2303