Centre Clears Appointment Of 3 HC Chief Justices As SC Judges, Top Court Back To Full Strength

The Centre has cleared the names of Justices Satish Chandra Sharma, Augustine George Masih, and Sandeep Mehta to be appointed as judges in the Supreme Court.

Justices Satish Chandra Sharma, Augustine George Masih, and Sandeep Mehta

Source : High Courts of Delhi, Rajasthan, and Gauhati

The Centre on Wednesday cleared the names of chief justices of three High Courts — Delhi, Rajasthan, and Gauhati — as judges to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court collegium had earlier this week recommended for elevation the names of Justices Satish Chandra Sharma, Augustine George Masih, and Sandeep Mehta, according to a LiveLaw report. 

All the three newly appointed Supreme Court judges will be administered the oath on Thursday after which the top court will be back to its full strength of 34 judges. 

As many as eight judges retired this year from the Supreme Court, the latest being Justice S Ravindra Bhat. 

The top court currently has a strength of 31 judges including the Chief Justice of India and 30 puisne judges from which Justice Kishan Kaul is set to retire in December. 

The resolution signed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, and Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai, and Surya Kant weighed in on factors factors like seniority of judges with the parent high courts as well as overall seniority, and their merit, performance, and integrity, according to the LiveLaw report. 

Another crucial factor that was considered was the need to ensure fair representation to high courts across the country, the inclusion of minorities, and members of backward or marginalised communities, and to enhance gender diversity

While recommending Justice Sharma's name, the collegium took note of his seniority — second senior most judge across the country and most senior from Madhya Pradesh, his parent high court,  as per the report.

While recommending Justice Masih's name, the collegium considered that he was seventh in terms of overall seniority but first when it came to the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which is the parent high court of two other judges in the Supreme Court bench. 

Justice Masih's association with a minority community was also taken into consideration, the report added. 

Lastly, for Justice Mehta, being the most senior of all judges hailing originally from the Rajasthan High Court worked to his merit to be qualified for the recommendation though he stands at twenty-third spot on the list of overall seniority.