Gurvinder Pal Singh Appointed Additional Judge of Delhi High Court After Earlier Omission

Gurvinder Pal Singh, a judicial officer of the Delhi Higher Judicial Service, has been appointed an Additional Judge of the Delhi High Court. His was the one name missing when the Centre notified seven other appointments to the court on September 19.

The Supreme Court Collegium had recommended eight judicial officers on September 10, 2026. Singh was listed first and was described as the senior-most of the eight. The others were Nivedita Anil Sharma, Nisha Sahay Saxena, Sanjay Sharma-I, Bharat Parashar, Dr Aditi Choudhary, Dinesh Bhatt and Arun Bhardwaj, the Registrar General of the High Court.

On September 19 the Centre cleared seven of the eight. Sharma and Saxena were appointed permanent judges, and the remaining five were appointed Additional Judges. Bar and Bench and other legal outlets noted Singh's absence from the list, and no official explanation was given.

A Delhi High Court gazette notification dated March 10, 2026 described Singh as Principal District and Sessions Judge, South District, Saket Court. The same notification recorded that he would retire from the Delhi Higher Judicial Service on June 30, 2026, on reaching the age of 60.

The Delhi High Court has a sanctioned strength of 60 judges, 45 permanent and 15 additional. It was working with 44 before the September 19 notification, a shortfall of 16. The seven appointments took it to 51, and Singh's appointment takes it to 52, which leaves eight vacancies.

As an Additional Judge, Singh will serve a probationary term of up to two years under Article 224 of the Constitution before the question of confirmation arises. The Collegium that made the recommendation comprises Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Vikram Nath, B.V. Nagarathna, M.M. Sundresh and P.S. Narasimha.

With his appointment the Delhi High Court stands at 52 judges against a sanctioned 60.