The Supreme Court collegium, led by Chief Justice Surya Kant, on Wednesday recommended the appointment of four high court chief justices and a senior advocate as judges of the Supreme Court. This development comes ten days after the President promulgated an ordinance to increase the Supreme Court's judge strength to 38.
Recommendations Finalized After Deliberations
The collegium recommended Punjab and Haryana High Court Chief Justice Sheel Nagu, Bombay High Court Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar, Madhya Pradesh High Court Chief Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva, Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court Chief Justice Arun Palli, and senior advocate V Mohana for elevation to the Supreme Court. The recommendations were finalized after a stormy preliminary discussion on May 22, which extended beyond midnight at the Chief Justice's residence. The collegium, comprising Chief Justice Kant, Justices Vikram Nath, J K Maheshwari, B V Nagarathna, and M M Sundresh, eliminated names over which there were major differences of opinion.
V Mohana: Second Woman Directly from Bar
Upon appointment, V Mohana will become the second woman, after Justice Indu Malhotra, to be directly appointed from the bar as a judge of the Supreme Court. Mohana is a first-generation lawyer who became an advocate on record in 1996. She was designated as a senior advocate by the Supreme Court in April 2015. Hailing from Coimbatore, she practiced law for over 37 years after obtaining her law degree in 1988.
Impact on Supreme Court Strength
With the appointment of these five judges, the Supreme Court's working strength will increase from the current 32 to 37, leaving just one vacancy. The ordinance had increased the sanctioned strength to 38.
Profiles of Recommended Judges
Justice Sheel Nagu
Punjab and Haryana High Court Chief Justice Sheel Nagu was part of the three-member in-house inquiry committee set up by then Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna to investigate the discovery of huge amounts of cash in a half-burnt state at the residence of then Delhi High Court Judge Yashwant Varma in March last year. Justice Varma has since resigned as a judge of the Allahabad High Court. Justice Nagu was appointed as a judge of the Madhya Pradesh High Court in May 2011 and became Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court on July 9, 2024. As a Supreme Court judge, he would have a tenure of about three and a half years and is scheduled to retire on December 31, 2029.
Justice Shree Chandrashekhar
Bombay High Court Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar will have a tenure of less than four years in the Supreme Court and will retire on May 24, 2030. He was part of the Lok Sabha Speaker-appointed Judges Inquiry Committee that investigated the alleged misconduct of Justice Yashwant Varma.
Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva
Madhya Pradesh High Court Chief Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva, upon appointment to the Supreme Court, will have a tenure of about three and a half years.
Justice Arun Palli
Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court Chief Justice Arun Palli will have a tenure of three years and four months upon appointment as a Supreme Court judge.
