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New Delhi: Among the nine new judges of the Supreme Court notified by President Ram Nath Kovind on Thursday afternoon, three are women judges, one judge from the Scheduled Castes and one belonging to the Other Backward Classes.
With these appointments, the number of judges in the apex court will increase from 24 to 33, with just one vacancy pending. The swearing-in ceremony of the new judges is likely to be held on August 31.
The names were proposed by the Supreme Court Collegium in a resolution on 17 August, which was seen as a significant development as it came 22 months after the last collegium’s recommendation.
The Collegium is a high-level appointments panel headed by the Chief Justice of India and comprises four senior judges of the apex court. Presently, it is headed by CJI NV Ramana and has Justices UU Lalit, AM Khanwilkar, DY Chandrachud and LN Rao as its members.
The 22-month gap between the two recommendations marked the tenure of former CJI SA Bobde, when the collegium could not finalize any names due to lack of consensus.
While the panel’s proposal was mildly criticized for ignoring several senior judges, Supreme Court sources told ThePrint that the selection was made to ensure adequate representation from all communities and regions.
Of the nine names selected, four are Chief Justices of High Courts – Justice Abhay Oka from Karnataka, Justice Vikram Nath from Gujarat, Justice KK Maheshwari from Sikkim and Justice Hima Kohli from Telangana – and four are HC judges, Justice BV Nagarathna from Karnataka . HC, Justice Bela Trivedi from Gujarat, Justice CT Shivakumar from Kerala and Justice MM Sundaresh from Tamil Nadu. A senior advocate P. Narasimha has also been appointed.
Read also: India may get its first woman CJI in 2027 as SC collegium recommends promotion of 3 women judges
First Series by SC Collegium
The resolution on 17 August also marked the first series for the SC collegium.
This was the first time that the collegium unanimously approved all nine names for promotion.
In addition, the resolution includes three women judges – Justices Hima Kohli, Bela Trivedi and BV Nagarathna – with Justice Nagrathana set to become India’s first woman CJI in 2027.
The collegium also proposed the names of judges of both SC and OBC in the first second – Justice CT Shivakumar and Justice MM Sundaresh respectively.
Advocate Namit Saxena, who did a detailed analysis of caste representation in the apex court, said the resolution has ensured adequate, if not proportionate, representation of certain communities.
“Till now, the apex court has seen a large number of judges from the Brahmin community, who have been given their high status in the society. There has been a change, though gradually,” Saxena told ThePrint.
However, he said the SC needs more OBC judges. “Till 1980 there was no representation of OBCs and even after most of the OBC judges came from the southern part. There has been only one OBC judge from the north and that is Justice BS Chauhan.
The collegium also included senior advocate P. Narasimha, a senior member of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA). This is significant as the SCBA has been extremely vocal about not appointing a one-time member as a SC judge. Narasimha will also become the third lawyer to be elevated as a judge of the apex court and take over as the CJI.
All nine judges also belong to different states – Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Gujarat – ensuring representation from across India.
Two sitting judges of Scheduled Castes will be Scheduled Castes
With the appointment of Justice Shivakumar, the Supreme Court will now have two sitting judges from the Scheduled Caste community after a gap of two decades. At present, Justice BR Gavai is the only judge belonging to the community.
The top court got its first Dalit judge in 1980 when Justice A. Varadarajan was appointed. Saxena said, “30 years after India got independence, the apex court has seen only five judges from Scheduled Castes.
Justice Varadarajan had a tenure of five years and retired in August 1985. Two months after retiring, Justice BC Ray was appointed in October 1985. His six-year term ended in October 1991. A year earlier, in 1989, Justice K. Ramaswamy joined the office from Andhra Pradesh for eight years before retiring in July 1997 and served as a judge.
Justice KG Balakrishnan was the fourth Dalit judge to be appointed to the Supreme Court in 2009. He became the first CJI of India from the Scheduled Caste community between 14 January 2007 and 12 May 2010. Justice Shivakumar is also related to Justice Balakrishnan.
Justice BR Gavai will also hold the post of CJI for six months in 2025.
Read also: India’s higher judiciary lacks professional diversity. Now lawyer-judges have a monopoly
SC. four women judges in
The collegium’s decision to elevate three women judges to the Supreme Court is being seen as unprecedented and historic for two reasons.
One, Justice Nagarathna will become independent India’s first woman Chief Justice in 2027 and will hold office for just one month in 2027, from September 23 to October 29. This is because a judge can hold the post of CJI only till the age of 65 years. .
Second, this will be the first time that the apex court will have four women judges. The current lone woman judge, Justice Indira Banerjee, will step down in September next year.
Sources involved in the decision-making process told ThePrint that it was important for the top court to “walk the talk” and, therefore, the motion involved three women judges.
“The SC has delivered several judgments advocating gender justice and equality, but its decision on the administrative side like the collegium resolution has never reflected this,” said one of the sources.
Several senior judges were ousted
The list of SC judges also surprised many as most high judges are relatively junior to some chief justices of high courts.
Chief Justice of Tripura High Court Justice Akil Qureshi is a major senior high court to be excluded from the enumeration.
Similarly, Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court Justice RS Jha, Chief Justice of Delhi High Court Justice DN Patel and Orissa High Court Justice S Muralidhar have also been excluded.
While it is not mandatory for the Chief Justice of the HC to elevate the senior-most judge to the Supreme Court, seniority is preferred as a tradition.
However, the sources cited above pointed out that the collegium takes into account several aspects like community and regional representation while taking decisions.
He said the list is not a comment on the merits of those who were not part of it.
(Edited by Rachel John)
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