New Delhi: The Government of India reportedly approved all the nine names recommended by the Supreme Court Collegium for elevation as judges of the apex court.
According to reports, the Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana declined to concede the request made by the government to reconsider some names. The CJI insisted that all the recommended names should be cleared.
With this, the number of apex court judges now stands at 33 including the CJI, against the sanctioned strength of 34. Only one vacancy is left.
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The nine names nominated by the Supreme Court Collegium include four High Court Chief Justices —Vikram Nath (Gujarat), A S Oka (Karnataka), Hima Kohli (Telangana) and J K Maheshwari (Sikkim) — four High Court judges Justices B V Nagarathna (Karnataka), M M Sundresh (Madras), C T Ravikumar (Kerala) and Bela M Trivedi (Gujarat), and Senior Advocate P S Narasimha.
Among the judges elevated, Justice Oka is the most senior high court judge and known for his rulings on civil liberties. In the Covid-19 pandemic, Justice Oka, whose parent high court is the Bombay High Court, cleared orders related to migrant workers besides questioning the government’s handling of the pandemic.
Justice C T Ravikumar is the second most senior judge of the Kerala High Court, and Justice M M Sundaresh is the third most senior judge of the Madras High Court.
There are high chances that one of the three women judges in the list may become the first woman CJI in 2027.