HT Digital,
Guwahati, Nov 9: Chief Justice of Gauhati High Court, Sandeep Mehta, was sworn in as a judge of the Supreme Court, India’s highest court of law, on Thursday. Alongside him, Justices Satish Chandra Sharma and Augustine George Masih were also sworn in as Supreme Court judges.
Their oath of office was administered by the Chief Justice of India, DY Chandrachud, after their recommendation was reportedly cleared by the Centre on Wednesday. Justice Sharma previously served as the Chief Justice of Delhi High Court, while Justice Masih was the Chief Justice of Rajasthan High Court.
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The Collegium, comprising of CJI DY Chandrachud, Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai, and Surya Kant, recommended their names, citing the Supreme Court’s large backlog of cases and the increasing workload of the judges.
It is worth noting that the Supreme Court of India, which has a sanctioned strength of 34 judges, was functioning with 31 judges. Following the swearing-in of the three new judges, the apex court will operate at full strength from tomorrow.
The recommendation stated, “The Supreme Court has a huge backlog of cases. In view of the ever-mounting pendency of cases, the workload of judges has increased considerably. Bearing in mind the above, it has become necessary to ensure that the Court has full working judge-strength leaving no vacancy at any point in time. Bearing in mind the above, the Collegium has decided to fill up all the three existing vacancies by recommending names.”
