India / In a first, 9 Supreme Court judges including 3 women take oath in one go

New Delhi: It is for the first time in the history of the apex court that nine Supreme Court Judges took oath of office at one go. Nine new judges, including three women, were today administered the oath of office by Chief Justice of India N V Ramana in a swearing-in ceremony held in the auditorium of the Supreme Court's additional building complex.

With the swearing-in of the nine new judges, the strength of the Supreme Court has risen to 33, including the CJI, out of the sanctioned strength of 34.

Names of 9 new Supreme Court Judges

1) Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka

2) Justice Vikram Nath

3) Justice Jitendra Kumar Maheshwari

4) Justice Hima Kohli

5) Justice B V Nagarathna.

6) Justice C T Ravikumar

7) Justice M M Sundresh

8) Justice Bela M Trivedi

9) Justice P S Narasimha

Three out of these nine new judges -- Justices Nath, Nagarathna and Narasimha -- are also in line to become the CJI.

Traditionally, the oath of office to new judges is administered in the CJI’s courtroom but the swearing-in ceremony was shifted to the auditorium keeping in view the need for strict adherence to COVID-19 norms, a press release issued by the apex court's public relations office on Monday had said.

While high court judges retire at the age of 62, the retirement age of Supreme Court judges is 65.

The recommendation of these nine names by the five-member collegium headed by CJI Ramana at its meeting on August 17 had put an end to the 21-month-long logjam over the appointment of new judges to the top court.