SC gets nine judges after two years, including 3 women

Satya Prakash
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, August 26

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The Supreme Court will get nine judges, including three women judges after two years as the government on Thursday notified their appointments after President Ram Nath Kovind gave his nod to the decision.

The appointments will take effect from the date the judges assume charge of their respective office, the Department of Justice said in separate notifications. The new judges are likely to be sworn in at the earliest.

One of them—Justice BV Nagarathna of the Karnataka High Court—is likely to become the first woman CJI in 2027.

Other eight names recommended for elevation are: Karnataka High Court Chief Justice AS Oka, Gujarat High Court Chief Justice Vikram Nath, Sikkim High Court Chief Justice Jitendra Kumar Maheshwari, Telangana High Court Chief Justice Hima Kohli, Kerala High Court judge CT Ravi Kumar, Madras High Court judge MM Sundersh, Gujarat High Court judge Bela M Trivedi and senior advocate and former Additional Solicitor General PS Narasimha.

Besides, Justice Nagarathna, Justice Vikram Nath and Narasimha will also go on to become the CJI, if the line of succession is not disturbed.

The top court is currently functioning with 24 judges against a sanctioned strength of 34, including the CJI.

Once the nine new judges take over, the working strength of the top court will reach 33, leaving only one post vacant.

Ending a two-year-long deadlock, the Supreme Court Collegium had on August 17 recommended nine names for elevation to the top court and the government had approved them.

The Collegium’s decision had come five days after the retirement of Justice RF Nariman who was said to have insisted on elevation of Tripura High Court Chief Justice Akil A Kureshi before any other name was considered.

Due to the stalemate, the Collegium failed to recommend any names for appointment of judges to the Supreme Court after August 28, 2019 when it had made the last recommendation.