Three high court chief justices were nominated for appointment as judges of the highest court on Monday by the Supreme Court collegium, which is presided over by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud. The names of Chief Justices Satish Chandra Sharma of the Delhi High Court, Augustine George Masih of the Rajasthan High Court, and Sandeep Mehta of the Gauhati High Court were recommended for appointment to the Supreme Court of India by the collegium, which also included Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Sanjiv Khanna, B R Gavai, and Surya Kant.
It stated that the collegium finds eligible chief justices and senior puisne judges of the high courts to be deserving and suitable in every way for appointment as judges of the Supreme Court of India after carefully evaluating their merit, integrity, and competence and taking into account a variety of factors.
“In view of the foregoing, the Collegium further resolves to recommend that the appointments of the above persons be made in the following order of seniority: i. Justice Satish Chandra Sharma, ii. Justice Augustine George Masih, and iii. Justice Sandeep Mehta,” the motion read.
If cleared by the Centre, the top court will have the full strength of 34 judges
Following the retirement of Justice S. Ravindra Bhat, who resigned on October 20, Justice V. Ramasubramanian, and Justice Krishna Murari, who retired in June and July, respectively, the supreme court currently has 31 judges on staff.
Judges’ workloads have increased significantly due to the growing backlog of cases, as stated in the conclusion of the Monday meeting by the five-judge collegium. In light of the aforementioned, it is therefore imperative to guarantee that the court always has a full complement of judges, with no vacancies. In light of the aforementioned, the Collegium has chosen to suggest names for each of the three open positions.
