Five New Supreme Court Judges Sworn In, Apex Court Strength Rises to 37

NEW DELHI, Jun 2: Chief Justice of India Surya Kant on Tuesday administered the oath of office to five new judges of the Supreme Court, taking the court’s strength to 37, the highest-ever number of sitting judges and just one short of its sanctioned strength of 38.

The newly appointed judges are Justices Sheel Nagu, Shree Chandrashekhar, Sanjeev Sachdeva, Arun Palli and V Mohana. The swearing-in ceremony was held at the Supreme Court premises.

The appointments were cleared by the Centre on Monday. Justice Nagu was serving as Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Justice Chandrashekhar as Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court, Justice Sachdeva as Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court, and Justice Palli as Chief Justice of the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court. Senior advocate V Mohana was also elevated to the apex court.

With the new appointments, the Supreme Court now has 37 judges, one short of the enhanced sanctioned strength of 38.

Last month, the Centre promulgated an ordinance amending the relevant law to increase the sanctioned strength of the Supreme Court from 34 to 38 judges, including the Chief Justice of India. (Agencies)