In a first, nine judges take oath to Supreme Court in one go

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, Aug 31, 2021: Nine judges, including three women, took the oath of office to the Supreme Court on Tuesday. This is the first time in the history of the Supreme Court that nine judges have taken oath in one go.

 

Chief Justice of India (CJI) N V Ramana administered the oath to the new judges. The nine new judges include Chief Justice AS Oka and Justice BV Nagarathna of the Karnataka High Court, Chief Justice Hima Kohli of the Telangana High Court, Chief Justice Vikram Nath of the Gujarat High Court, Sikkim Chief Justice JK Maheshwari, Justice CT Ravikumar of the Kerala High Court, Justice MM Sundresh of the Madras High Court, Justice Bela M Trivedi of the Gujarat High Court and senior Advocate PS Narasimha.

With the swearing-in of the nine new judges, the strength of the Supreme Court would rise to 33, including the CJI, out of the sanctioned strength of 34.

Justice BV Nagarathna will go on to become the country’s first woman chief justice, for just over a month — from September 25 to October 29, 2027.

The names of the nine judges were recommended by the Supreme Court Collegium to the Centre, which were cleared on August 26.

Justice PS Narasimha became a judge of the Supreme Court directly from the Bar. He became the sixth lawyer to be directly promoted from the Bar to the Supreme Court after the collegium system for appointment of judges came into existence in 1993.

After 1993, five lawyers —- N Santosh Hegde, RF Nariman, UU Lalit, LN Rao and Indu Malhotra— became Supreme Court judges after being promoted directly to the Supreme Court bench from the Bar.

Prior to this, Justice SM Sikri and Justice Kuldeep Singh were also appointed judges in the Supreme Court directly from the Bar. Justice Sikri became the first Chief Justice to become a judge directly from the Bar.

Courtesy:India Today