New Delhi: For the first time in the history of the Supreme Court, nine new judges including three women on Tuesday took the oath of office at one go, taking the total strength of the apex court to 33.
Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana administered the oath to the new judges.
After the judges were sworn-in, there is only one vacancy in the Supreme Court now, which has a sanctioned strength of 34 judges.
On August 18, the Supreme Court published on its website names of nine persons it recommended for appointment as judges to the top court. The decision was taken by the Supreme Court Collegium headed by Chief Justice Ramana and comprising four senior most judges of the top court. These names were subsequently approved by the central government on August 26.
The new nine judges are: Justice A.S. Oka, Justice Vikram Nath, Justice J.K. Maheshwari, Justice Hima Kohli, Justice B.V. Nagarathna, Justice C.T. Ravikumar, Justice M.M. Sundresh, Justice Bela Trivedi and senior advocate P.S. Narasimha.
Justice B.V. Nagarathna, is in line to become the first woman Chief Justice of India in September 2027. Justice Nagarathna's father, Justice E.S. Venkataramiah, had been a CJI for a few months in 1989. Currently, Justice Indira Banerjee is the only serving woman judge in the apex court.