NEW DELHI: Three new Supreme Court Judges – Justices Sunita Agarwal, Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Aparesh Kumar Singh – on Tuesday took oath of office in the name of God taking the working strength of SC to 37 judges, just one short of the sanctioned strength.CJI Surya Kant administered oath to Justices Agarwal, Upadhyaya and Singh, who were chief justices of Gujarat, Delhi and Telangana HCs respectively, in the presence of SC judges, attorney general R Venkataramani, solicitor general Tushar Mehta and other senior advocates and lawyers.With the elevation of Justice Agarwal, who is the 13th women judge of SC, the strength of women judges in the apex court at present became three. The other two being Justices B V Nagarathna, who is scheduled to become the first woman CJI on Sep 24 next year, and Justice V Mohana.During the tenure of Justice N V Ramana as CJI, the Supreme Court had the highest number of sitting SC judges at four – Justices India Banerjee, Nagarathna, Hima Kohli and Bela M Trivedi, last three of whom had taken oath on Aug 31, 2021. While the Collegium led by Justice Ramana had recommended appointment of three women judges, the present collegium led by CJI Kant has so far appointed two women judges.
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SC got its first woman judge in M Fathima Beevi on Oct 6, 1989, 39 years after SC was established. Justice Beevi had retired from Kerala HC on Apr 29, 1989, but was elevated to the SC five months after retirement. Other women judges in SC were – Justices Sujata V Manohar, Ruma Pal, Gyan Sudha Misra, Ranjana P Desai, R Bhanumathi and Indu Malhotra.SC judge strength was increased from 34 to 38, including the CJI, initially through an Ordinance on May 16. The corresponding Amendment Act was passed by Parliament which received the President’s assent on Aug 11. In Aug 2019, during the tenure of CJI Ranjan Gogoi, the sanctioned strength of SC judges was increased from 31 to 34, including CJI.The SC had started in 1950 with a sanctioned strength of 8 Judges, which was increased to 11 in 1956, 14 in 1960, 18 in 1978, 26 in 1986, and 31 in 2009. SC as of Tuesday has a pendency of 95, 481 cases.
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