Centre clears appointment of 3 High Court chief justices as Supreme Court judges

New Delhi [India], November 9 (ANI): The Ministry of Law and Justice has cleared the appointments of three Chief Justices of different High Courts as judges of the Supreme Court of India.

The Supreme Court Collegium on Monday recommended the names of three new judges for the appointment of apex court judges.

According to the Supreme Court Administrative Branch Circular, the swearing-in ceremonies of Justice Satish Chandra Sharma, Chief Justice, High Court of Delhi; Justice Augustine George Masih, Chief Justice, High Court of Rajasthan; and Justice Sandeep Mehta, Chief Justice, Gauhati High Court, as Judges of the Supreme Court of India, are proposed to be held on November 9 at 4.15 pm at the auditorium of Supreme Court premises.

Adish C Aggarwala, Senior Advocate and President of the Supreme Court Bar Association, while confirming the development to ANI, thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for accepting the recommendation of the Collegium of the Supreme Court for the appointment of three judges in 48 hours.

Delhi High Court Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma, Rajasthan High Court Chief Justice Augustine George Masih and Gauhati High Court Chief Justice Sandeep Mehta were recommended for elevation to the Centre for Supreme Court judges.

The Collegium, comprising Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai, and Surya Kant, said the Supreme Court has a huge backlog of cases and in view of the ever-mounting pendency of cases, the workload of judges has increased considerably.

The Supreme Court of India has a sanctioned strength of 34 judges and is presently functioning with 31 judges.

“The Supreme Court has a huge backlog of cases. In view of the ever-mounting pendency of cases, the workload of judges has increased considerably. Bearing in mind the above, it has become necessary to ensure that the Court has full working judge strength, leaving no vacancy at any point in time. Bearing in mind the above, the Collegium has decided to fill up all the three existing vacancies by recommending names,” the recommendation stated.

It stated that the Collegium deliberated on and discussed the names of Chief Justices and senior puisne judges of the High Courts eligible for appointment to the Supreme Court.

“Judgements authored by those falling in the zone of consideration for elevation to the Supreme Court were circulated among the members of the Collegium well in advance for a meaningful discussion on and assessment of their judicial acumen. The Centre for Research and Planning of the Supreme Court has prepared a compilation of relevant background material to assist the Collegium,” it added.