The Supreme Court collegium on Tuesday recommended advocate Neela Kedar Gokhale as a judge of the Bombay High Court.

Gokhale represents Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Purohit, who is an accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case.

Six people were killed and 100 injured when an explosive device strapped to a motorcycle went off near a mosque in Malegaon in north Maharashtra on September 29, 2008. Bharatiya Janata Party MP Pragya Thakur is also one of the accused persons in the case. She was elected from the Bhopal Lok Sabha constituency in 2019, while out on bail.

Gokhale was recommended to be elevated as a judge of the Bombay High Court by the collegium, headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, in a meeting on January 10.

She was among eight persons who were recommended for appointment as High Court judges.

The collegium recommended Aribam Guneshwar Sharma and Golmei Gaiphulshillu Kabui for appointment as judges at the Manipur High Court. It also put forward the names of P Venkata Jyothirmai and V Gopalakrishna Rao for the Andhra Pradesh High Court.

The collegium recommended the elevation of Mridul Kumar Kalita to the Gauhati High and Ramachandra Dattatray Huddar and Venkatesh Naik Thavaryanaik to the Karnataka High Court.