In a first, nine Supreme Court judges to be sworn-in on Tuesday

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 30

In a first, nine Supreme Court judges, including three woman judges, will be sworn-in on Tuesday by Chief Justice of India NV Ramana.

The oath ceremony will be held at 10.30 am in the newly built auditorium at the Supreme Court’s Additional Building Complex, the top court’s Registry announced on Monday.

“This is for the first time in the history of the Supreme Court of India  when nine judges will be taking the Oath of Office in one go. In another first, the venue of the ceremony is shifted to the auditorium,” it said.

“Traditionally, oath to the new Judges is administered in the Court Room No. 1 which is presided over  by Hon’ble the Chief Justice of India,” it said, adding the change was done keeping  in view the need for strict adherence to Covid norms.

The newly appointed nine judges are: Justice AS Oka, Justice Vikram Nath, Justice Jitendra Kumar Maheshwari, Justice Hima Kohli, Justice BV Nagarathna, Justice CT Ravi Kumar, Justice MM Sundersh, Justice Bela M Trivedi and Justice PS Narasimha.

Justice Nagarathna is likely to become the first woman CJI in September 2027. Besides, Justice Nagarathna, Justice Vikram Nath and Narasimha will also go on to become the CJI, if the line of succession is not disturbed.

“The Oath Ceremony will be telecast live on DD News and DD India. Live webcast of the ceremony will also be available on the home page of official  web portal of Hon’ble Supreme Court of India i.e., https://sci.nic.in/ The webcast can also be accessed at https://webcast.gov.in/scindia/,” the Registry announced.

The top court is currently functioning with 24 judges against a sanctioned strength of 34, including the CJI. Once the nine new judges take over, the working strength of the top court will reach 33, leaving only one post vacant.

Ending a two-year-long deadlock, the Supreme Court Collegium led by CJI Ramana had on August 17 recommended nine names for elevation to the top court and the government had approved them. President Ram Nath Kovind had given his nod to the recommendations on August 26.

Before elevation, Justice AS Oka was the Karnataka High Court Chief Justice; Justice Vikram Nath – the Gujarat High Court Chief Justice; Justice Jitendra Kumar Maheshwari – the Sikkim High Court Chief Justice, Justice Hima Kohli – the Telangana High Court Chief Justice; Justice BV Nagarathna – a Karnataka High Court Judge; Justice CT Ravi Kumar – a Kerala High Court judge; Justice MM Sundersh – a Madras High Court judge; Justice Bela M Trivedi – a Gujarat High Court judge; and PS Narasimha—a senior advocate and former Additional Solicitor General.