BREAKING| Five New Judges Take Oath In Supreme Court, Court Moves Closer To Full Strength

Five newly appointed judges of the Supreme Court took oath of office on Tuesday, taking the Court closer to its sanctioned strength of 38 judges.

Chief Justice of India Justice Surya Kant administered the oath to Justice Sheel Nagu, Justice Shree Chandrashekhar, Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva, Justice Arun Palli and Senior Advocate V. Mohana at a ceremony held in the Supreme Court.

The Central Government had yesterday notified their appointments following recommendations made by the Supreme Court Collegium at its meetings held on May 22 and May 27.

The new appointees include four sitting Chief Justices of High Courts. Justice Sheel Nagu was serving as the Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court(parent HC : Madhya Pradesh), Justice Shree Chandrashekhar as the Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court(parent HC : Jharkhand), Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva as the Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court(parent HC : Delhi), and Justice Arun Palli as the Chief Justice of the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh(parent HC : Punjab and Haryana).

The fifth appointee, Senior Advocate V. Mohana, practised before the Supreme Court and becomes one of the few lawyers to be directly elevated to the Apex Court Bench.

The elevation of V. Mohana also increases the representation of women judges in the Supreme Court. Before her elevation, Justice BV Nagarathna was the only woman judge serving on the Court. No woman had been appointed to the Supreme Court since August 2021.

Recently, the strength of the Supreme Court was increased to 38 judges (including the CJI), raising it by 4. Before today's swearing-in ceremony, the Court was functioning with 32 judges.

With the addition of the five new judges, the Supreme Court has moved closer to its full sanctioned strength. However, two vacancies are expected to arise later this month following the retirement of Justice JK Maheshwari and Justice Pankaj Mithal.