Nine new judges, including three women, whose appointments to the Supreme Court have been cleared by the Centre, are likely to be sworn-in on August 31 by Chief Justice of India (CJI) N V Ramana, apex court sources said on Thursday. The oath ceremony will be held at 10.30 am in the auditorium at the Supreme Court’s Additional Building Complex, the top court’s registry announced on Monday.
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. President Ram Nath Kovind has signed the warrants of their appointment including that of Justice B V Nagarathna, who is in line to become the first woman CJI in September 2027. Sources said that four out of nine new apex court judges are chief justices of different high courts and they need some time to wind up their administrative and judicial work there. Justice Nagarathna is likely to become the first woman Chief Justice of India 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 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.
