Supreme Court gets 9 new judges
Government sources told news agency PTI that President Ram Nath Kovind on Thursday appointed nine new judges, including three women, after President Ram Nath Kovind signed the warrant of appointment. He said a formal notification would be issued soon.
The new judges of the top court include Justice BV Nagarathna, who will be in line to become the first woman Chief Justice (CJI) of India in September 2027, Justice Bela M Trivedi, Justice Hima Kohli, Justice CT Ravikumar, Justice MM Sundaresh, and Senior advocate and former Additional Solicitor General PS Narasimha. Justices Abhay Srinivas Oka, Justices Vikram Nath and Jitendra Kumar Maheshwari are also among those appointed to the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court is currently functioning with 24 judges against the sanctioned strength of 35, including the CJI. The appointment of nine judges takes the workforce to 33.
Last week, the Supreme Court officially announced that its collegium has recommended nine names to the Centre. The recommendation of a five-member Supreme Court collegium headed by CJI NV Ramana ended a 21-month-long impasse over the appointment of new judges in the apex court. The five-member collegium also includes Justices UU Lalit, AM Khanwilkar, DY Chandrachud and L Nageswara Rao.
The impasse over the appointment has created a situation in which not a single name could be recommended for a judge in the apex court after the retirement of the then CJI Ranjan Gogoi on November 17, 2019.
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