Supreme Court To Work With Full Strength As Four New Judges Take Charge

The Supreme Court of India will be working with its full strength after four new judges were sworn in this morning.

Justice BR Gavai, Justice Surya Kant, Justice Anirudhha Bose and Justice AS Bopanna were sworn in by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi. In his term as the chief justice which began in October 2018, the Justice Gogoi-led collegium has appointed 10 judges within eight months. With the induction of Justice Gavai to the bench, the apex court will now have a judge from the dalit community after almost a decade.

The top court will continue to work with its sanctioned strength of 31 judges until the the next set of retirements which begin with Justice Abhay Mohan Sapre, who will retire on Aug. 27, 2019. The second and the last retirement from the top court this year will be of the chief justice himself in November 2019.

The Supreme Court of India's collegium recommended the names of Justice Bhushan Ramkrishna Gavai and Justice Surya Kant for elevation to the nation's highest court on May 10.

“While recommending the names of Justice Bhushan Ramkrishna Gavai and Justice Surya Kant, the collegium has taken into consideration combined seniority on all-India basis of chief justices and senior puisne judges of high courts, apart from their competence, conduct and integrity,” the collegium's resolution, which was uploaded to the apex court's website, said.

Justice Gavai, currently ranked eighth in the all-India seniority list of high court judges, was appointed as judge of the Bombay High Court in 2003 and has been on its bench since then. He is ranked fourth in the seniority list at the Bombay High Court.

Justice Surya Kant is ranked eleventh on all-India seniority list of high court judges and was appointed as judge of the Punjab & Haryana High Court on Jan. 9, 2004 and was later elevated as Chief Justice of Himachal Pradesh High Court.

The recommendation of Justice Aniruddha Bose and Justice Bopanna, however, saw a delay as their names were rejected by the the union government at the first instance. The names of Justice Bose and Justice Bopanna were first recommended on April 12, 2019. The government sent back the files for reconsideration on grounds of seniority and regional representation. The collegium reiterated the names of the two judges in its resolution of May 10.

“The collegium is of the view that, though inter-se seniority amongst Judges in their high courts and their combined seniority on all-India basis should be given due weightage, merit should be the predominant consideration,” the collegium's resolution had said in reply to the government's reason for sending the names for reconsideration. “The collegium accordingly kept in mind these parameters while recommending the above two names.”