President Approves Appointment of Five New Supreme Court Judges

The Central Government of India has approved the appointment of the five new judges to the Supreme Court after newly expanded sanctioned strength of 38 judges. The appointments comes shortly after the Supreme Court Collegium has recommended the new names and it marks the first major elevation exercise under the Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant.

Centre Approves Five New Supreme Court Judges

Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal has announced that the Honorable President has approved the appointments under the Article 124(2) of the Constitution of India, which governs the appointment of judges to the Supreme Court.

This appointments includes the four sitting High Court Chief Justices and one distinguished senior advocate.

Approval came within the few days of the Supreme Court Collegium’s recommendation which highlights the smooth coordination between the judiciary and the executive in this round of the appointments.

Supreme Court Judge Strength Increased to 38

Recently, the Honorable President has promulgated an ordinance to increasing the sanctioned strength of Supreme Court judges from 34 to 38 judges.

The move was aimed at addressing the,

• Rising case pendency
• Judicial workload
• Faster disposal of cases

Following this expansion, the collegium has recommended the five new appointments to fill the increased vacancies.

If it gets approved, the Supreme Court’s working strength will rise from 32 to 37 judges and leaving only one vacancy.

Who Are the New 5 Judges?

The collegium has recommended the following names,

• Justice Sheel Nagu
• Justice Shree Chandrashekhar
• Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva
• Justice Arun Palli
• Senior Advocate V Mohana

These recommendations were finalized after the extensive discussions within the collegium.

V Mohana’s Historic Elevation

Senior advocate V Mohana is set to create a history with her appointment  as judge in top court.

She will become the second woman directly elevated from the bar to the Supreme Court

The first women was Justice Indu Malhotra.

About V Mohana

She comes from Coimbatore and a first-generation lawyer.

She became an Advocate-on-Record in the year 1996.

She also designated as Senior Advocate in 2015 and had over the 37 years of legal practice.

Her elevation is can be seen as the significant moment for the gender representation in the higher judiciary.

Justice Sheel Nagu

Justice Sheel Nagu is currently serving as the Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

He appointed judge of Madhya Pradesh HC in the year 2011 and then became the Chief Justice of Punjab & Haryana HC in July 2024.

He was also member of inquiry panel related to Justice Yashwant Varma matter.

His retirement scheduled to 31 December 2029.

He is expected to have the tenure around three and a half years in the Supreme Court.

Justice Shree Chandrashekhar

Justice Shree Chandrashekhar, is currently the Chief Justice of Bombay High Court, has also been recommended to to court.

He earlier served on the Judges Inquiry Committee related to the Justice Yashwant Varma inquiry.

He will hold the office until 24th May, 2030.

Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva

Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva, who is currently Chief Justice of Madhya Pradesh High Court has been also elevated to the top court.

He is expected to have around 3.5 years of tenure in the Supreme Court.

Justice Arun Palli

CurrentChief Justice of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court Justice Arun Palli has also been recommended.

He is expected to serve around 3 years and 4 months as Supreme Court judge..

Collegium Discussion and Selection Process

The recommendations reportedly followed with the intense discussions within the collegium.

The collegium currently comprises the,

• CJI Surya Kant
• Justice Vikram Nath
• Justice J.K. Maheshwari
• Justice B.V. Nagarathna
• Justice M.M. Sundresh

Some of the names were reportedly dropped after differences of opinion among members.