Gauhati High Court Cheif Justice Sandeep Mehta was among three justices to be sworn in as a judge of the Supreme Court, the apex court of law in India on Thursday.
Alongside justice Sandeep Mehta, justices Satish Chandra Sharma and Augustine George Masih were sworn in as Supreme Court judges.
They were administered their oath of office by the Chief Justice of India, DY Chandrachud. Their recommendation were reportedly cleared by the Centre on Wednesday.
While Justice Satish Chandra Sharma was the Chief Justice of Delhi High Court, Justice Augustine George Masih was the Chief Justice of Rajasthan High Court.
While recommending their names, the Collegium comprising of CJI DY Chandrachud, justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai, and Surya Kant said that the Supreme Court has a huge backlog of cases and in view of the ever-mouting pendency of cases, the workload of judges has increased considerably.
It may be noted that the Supreme Court of India has a sanctioned strength of 34 judges and was functioning with 31 judges. Following the swearing in of the three new judges, the apex court will now function 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."
The Collegium deliberated and discussed the names of the Chief Justices and senior puisne judges of the High Courts eligible for appointment to the Supreme Court.
"Judgements authored by those falling in the zone of consideration for elevation to the Supreme Court were circulated among the members of the Collegium well in advance for a meaningful discussion on an assessment of their judicial acumen. The Centre for Research and Planning of the Supreme Court has prepared a compilation of relevant background material to assist the Collegium," added the recommendation.
