By NE NOW NEWS
Guwahati: Chief Justice of India Surya Kant on June 2 administered the oath of office to five newly appointed judges of the Supreme Court, taking the apex court’s strength to 37 judges-its highest-ever tally and just one below the sanctioned strength of 38.
The swearing-in was held at the Supreme Court complex, where Justices Sheel Nagu, Shree Chandrashekhar, Sanjeev Sachdeva, Arun Palli and V Mohana officially took charge as judges of the top court. Their elevation came after the Centre cleared their names on Monday, soon after the Supreme Court Collegium had recommended them on May 27, indicating a quick approval cycle.
The increase in strength follows a recent government ordinance that expanded the sanctioned number of Supreme Court judges from 34 to 38. With these appointments, the court is now operating almost at full sanctioned capacity.
Notably, Justice V Mohana’s elevation marks a significant milestone as she becomes only the second woman lawyer to be directly elevated from the Bar to the Supreme Court after Justice Indu Malhotra in 2018. She now joins Justice B V Nagarathna on the bench, making them the two serving women judges in the apex court.
Justice Nagarathna is also next in line to become Chief Justice of India in 2027, which would make her the first woman to hold the post.
The newly inducted judges bring with them wide-ranging judicial experience from various High Courts: Justice Nagu was Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Justice Chandrashekhar headed the Bombay High Court, Justice Sachdeva served as Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court and Justice Palli led the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court, while Justice Mohana previously practised as a senior advocate before elevation.
The appointments also come ahead of the scheduled retirement of two sitting Supreme Court judges-Justice Pankaj Mithal on June 16 and Justice J K Maheshwari on June 28.