Collegium recommends 4 HC chief justices, V Mohana as SC judge
The Supreme Court collegium on Wednesday recommended the elevation of chief justices of four high courts and senior advocate V Mohana as judges of the apex court.
According to a statement uploaded on the top court’s website, the collegium, headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, held its meetings on May 22 and May 27.
It has recommended the elevation of Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court Sheel Nagu, Chief Justice of Bombay High Court Shree Chandrashekhar, Chief Justice of Madhya Pradesh High Court Sanjeev Sachdeva, Chief Justice of the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh Arun Palli and Mohana as judges of the top court.
The apex court presently has 32 judges, including the CJI. Two sitting judges of the top court are set to retire next month.
Currently, Justice B V Nagarathna is the lone woman judge in the apex court. Mohana’s appointment as a judge of the apex court will add to women’s representation on the bench.
Recently, the government had promulgated an ordinance to increase the strength of the Supreme Court from the present 34 judges to 38, including the CJI.
The law ministry notified the ordinance on May 16, which amended the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, 1956, to increase the sanctioned strength of the top court.
The Union Cabinet had cleared a draft bill on May 5 to increase the number of apex court judges.
