Four new Supreme Court judges administered oath of office

New Delhi, May 24

Four new judges of the Supreme Court were on Friday administered the oath of office by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi.

With the swearing-in of the four judges, the number of judges in the Supreme Court stands at 31, the full sanctioned strength of the top court.

Justices BR Gavai, Surya Kant, Aniruddha Bose and AS Bopanna were administered oath of office by the CJI in Court No 1 in the presence of several other sitting apex court judges.

The apex court, which was functioning with 27 judges, including the CJI, has now reached its full strength of judges for the first time since 2008 when Parliament had increased the number of judges from 26 to 31.

On Wednesday, President Ram Nath Kovind had issued warrants of appointment of Justices Gavai, Kant, Bose and Bopanna as apex court judges.

The names of Justices Bose and Bopanna were earlier returned by the Centre to the Supreme Court collegium citing seniority and representation of regions as the reasons.

In its May 8 resolution, the five-member collegium had reiterated its recommendation to elevate Justices Bose and Bopanna, observing that nothing adverse had been found regarding their competence, conduct or integrity.

The collegium, headed by the CJI, had on May 8 also recommended the names of Justices Gavai and Kant for elevation to the apex court. PTI