MUMBAI, Aug. 14 -- The central government on Wednesday notified the appointment of advocate Aarti Sathe, former spokesperson for the Maharashtra BJP, and two others, as judges of the Bombay High Court. "In exercise of the power conferred by clause (1) of Article 224 of the Constitution of India, the President is pleased to appoint (i) Shri Ajit Bhagwanrao Kadethankar, (ii) Shri Sushil Manohar Ghodeswar and (iii) Ms Aarti Arun Sathe, to be Additional Judges of the Bombay High Court, in that order of seniority, for a period of two years, with effect from the date they assume charge of their respective offices," the notification stated. The Union Ministry of Law and Justice (Appointments Division) issued the notification on Wednesday, a fortnight after the Supreme Court Collegium on July 28 recommended Sathe's appointment, along with the other two judges. Following this, opposition leaders in Maharashtra raised objections to Sathe's appointment, calling her elevation to the judiciary "the gravest blow to democracy". The appointment of three new judges has taken the strength of the high court to 69, against a sanctioned strength of 94. "The appointment of a political figure raises doubts about the entire process of delivery of justice. It also undermines the principle of separation of power ensured by the Constitution," NCP (SP) legislator Rohit Pawar had said, and demanded that the decision be reconsidered. Sathe said she had already resigned from the party, while the Maharashtra BJP pointed out that such an appointment had taken place during the Congress regime too. "I had resigned from all political posts long before this. So that settles it. I don't want to respond to anything else," said Sathe. The Congress's state unit president Harshwardhan Sapkal said that if someone who held an active position in a political party was appointed as a judge, her judgments could not be impartial. "Democracy and the Constitution have been systematically sidelined in the country since 2014," said Sapkal. "All autonomous institutions are operating under government directives, even the Election Commission of India. But the most serious and worrying development is within the judiciary itself." Responding to the controversy, the BJP said Sathe had resigned as party spokesperson from the post on January 6 last year, and had posted her resignation letter on social media. Sathe's legal practice has largely been in the field of direct and indirect taxes. She is an alumna of Government Law College, Mumbai. Her father, Arun P Sathe, is a BJP worker with an RSS background. He was BJP in-charge of the eastern region of Uttar Pradesh and was also associated with the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Sena. Arun Sathe had unsuccessfully fought the Lok Sabha election as a BJP candidate in 1989, from Mumbai North-West constituency, against the Congress's Sunil Dutt. He is the elder brother of former Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan. A similar controversy took place when the central government appointed Arun Sathe to the board of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) in August 2015....