Govt approves 9 names sent by Supreme Court Collegium
The Centre is learnt to have approved all nine names recommended by the Supreme Court Collegium for appointments as judges in the apex court, media reports said. The government has now forwarded the list to President Ram Nath Kovind for issuance of warrants of appointment.
Once the President formally approves the Centre's decision, the new judges will be sworn in. The ceremony could take place early next week.
The Supreme Court is currently functioning with 24 judges against a sanctioned strength of 35, including the CJI. The approval will fill nine vacancies taking the working strength to 33.
Last week, the Supreme Court had officially announced that its collegium has recommended to the Centre nine names, including three women high court judges, for appointing them as judges of the apex court. The recommendation by the Supreme Court's five-member collegium headed by CJI NV Ramana ended the 21-month-long logjam over the appointment of new judges to the apex court. The five-member Collegium also comprises Justices UU Lalit, AM Khanwilkar, DY Chandrachud and L Nageswara Rao.
The impasse over the appointment has led to a situation in which not a single name for the judgeship in the apex court could be recommended after the superannuation of the then CJI Ranjan Gogoi on November 17, 2019.
The Collegium at its meeting held on August 17, recommended names of four chief justices of different high courts for elevation as judges of the Supreme Court. They are -- Justices Abhay Shreeniwas Oka (Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court), Vikram Nath (Chief Justice of Gujarat High Court), Jitendra Kumar Maheshwari (Chief Justice of Sikkim High Court) and Justice Hima Kohli (Chief Justice of Telangana High Court). Besides them, Justice BV Nagarathna, if elevated to the top court, would become the first woman CJI in 2027. She is currently a judge of the Karnataka High Court.
The other four names are Justice CT Ravikumar of the Kerala High Court, Justice MM Sundresh of the Madras High Court, Justice Bela Trivedi from the Gujarat High Court and senior advocate PS Narasimha. Narasimha, if appointed, would become the sixth lawyer to be elevated to the apex court bench directly from the Bar. He was appointed Additional Solicitor General in 2014 and resigned from the post in 2018.
READ MORE: Collegium recommends 9 names, including 3 women, for appointment as SC judges
READ MORE: Karnataka HC's Justice BV Nagarathna in line to become first woman CJI
