Supreme Court gets three new judges, regains full strength of 34

The Supreme Court on Thursday got three new judges as the CJI administered the oath of office to Justices Satish Chandra Sharma, Augustine George Masih and Sandeep Mehta. With this, the SC will have a full working strength of 34 judges.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday got three new judges as the Chief Justice of India (CJI) administered the oath of office to Justices Satish Chandra Sharma, Augustine George Masih and Sandeep Mehta.

With this, the Supreme Court will have a full working strength of 34 judges.

The swearing in ceremony was attended by all the judges of the top court, senior advocates, SC Bar Association members, family members of the newly appointed judges, among others.

The notifications on appointment of three judges were issued on Thursday.

On Monday, the Supreme Court Collegium headed by CJI 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.

Of the three judges, Justice Sharma was acting as Chief Justice, Delhi High Court of Delhi (Parent HC: 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).

Notably, Justice Sharma stood at serial number two in the combined all India seniority of High Court Judges. He was appointed as a judge of the Madhya Pradesh High Court on January 18, 2008. He was elevated as Chief Justice of the High Court for the State of Telangana on October 11, 2021 and thereafter transferred to High Court of Delhi on June 28, 2022.

Justice Masih, who belongs to a minority community, stands at serial number seven in the combined all India seniority of High Court Judges. He was appointed as a Judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court on July 10, 2008 and elevated as Chief Justice of the Rajasthan High Court on May 30, 2023.

Justice Mehta stood at serial number 23 in the combined all India seniority of High Court Judges. He was appointed as a judge of the Rajasthan High Court on May 30, 2011. Having attained seniority in his parent High Court, he was elevated as Chief Justice of the Gauhati High Court and is serving there since February 15, 2023.