Centre clears appointment of 3 HC chief justices as SC judges, oath on Thursday

With their appointments, the Supreme Court will have a full working strength of 34 judges. The three judges will take oath on Thursday. On Monday, the Supreme Court collegium headed by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud recommended the appointment of three high court chief justices as judges to the apex court, saying that in view of the ever-mounting pendency of cases, the workload of judges has increased considerably and it has become necessary to ensure that the court has full working judge-strength.

The collegium, also comprising justices S K Kaul, Sanjiv Khanna, B R Gavai, and Suya Kant, said the apex court has a sanctioned strength of thirty-four Judges and is presently functioning with thirty-one Judges and it has a huge backlog of cases. The collegium stressed that in view of the ever-mounting pendency of cases, the workload of judges has increased considerably and bearing that in mind, it has become necessary to ensure that the court has full working judge-strength leaving no vacancy at any point in time.

After carefully evaluating the merit, integrity, and competence of eligible chief justices and senior puisne Judges of the high courts and also accommodating a plurality of considerations, the collegium recommended: Justice Satish Chandra Sharma, chief justice, High Court of Delhi (parent high court: Madhya Pradesh); Justice Augustine George Masih, chief justice, Rajasthan High Court (PHC: Punjab & Haryana); and Justice Sandeep Mehta, chief justice, Gauhati High Court, (PHC: Rajasthan).