New Delhi, June 2
The Supreme Court has reached its highest-ever working strength after five new judges were sworn in on Tuesday. Chief Justice of India Surya Kant administered the oath of office to Justices Sheel Nagu, Shree Chandrashekhar, Sanjeev Sachdeva, Arun Palli and V Mohana at a ceremony held on the court’s premises in New Delhi today.
Their appointments take the number of serving judges in the country’s highest court to 37, just one short of the newly approved sanctioned strength of 38, including the chief justice.
The appointments were cleared by the Centre government on Monday, following recommendations made by the Supreme Court Collegium on May 27. The government recently increased the sanctioned strength of the court from 34 to 38 judges through an ordinance, citing a growing workload.
Among the new appointees, Justice V Mohana has made history as only the second woman lawyer to be directly elevated from the Bar to the Supreme Court, after Justice Indu Malhotra in 2018. Justice Mohana, a senior advocate designated by the Supreme Court in 2015, will be one of only two women currently serving on the court. The other is Justice B V Nagarathna, who is expected to become India’s first woman Chief Justice in 2027.
The new judges bring experience from several high courts across the country. Justice Nagu most recently served as Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, while Justice Chandrashekhar headed the Bombay High Court. Justice Sachdeva was Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court, and Justice Palli led the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court.
The appointments come ahead of the retirement of two sitting Supreme Court judges, Justice Pankaj Mithal and Justice J K Maheshwari, later this month.
The latest additions are expected to strengthen the court’s capacity as it continues to deal with a large backlog of cases and constitutional matters.
