Centre notifies appointment of 3 new judges to top court

Hindustan Times

4 days ago

The Union government on Thursday formally notified the appointment of three new judges to the Supreme Court, a day after President Droupadi Murmu gave her assent to the collegium's recommendations. The move comes as a significant development in the judiciary and confirms Hindustan Times' earlier report that the appointments were expected to come through during the day.
Union law minister Arjun Ram Meghwal announced the appointments on X. 'In exercise of the powers conferred by the Constitution of India, the President, after consultation with Chief Justice of India, is pleased to appoint S/Shri Justices (i) N.V. Anjaria, Chief Justice, High Court of Karnataka, (ii) Vijay Bishnoi, Chief Justice, High Court of Gauhati, and (iii) A.S. Chandurkar, Judge, High Court of Bombay as Judges of the Supreme Court of India,' Meghwal wrote.
The three judges are expected to be sworn in by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Bhushan R Gavai on Friday morning.
The files concerning the appointments reached President Murmu on Wednesday and received her approval. The formal notification from the law ministry, issued Thursday afternoon, completes the process initiated by the Supreme Court collegium on May 26.
The appointments mark a strong start to the tenure of CJI Gavai, who took office earlier this month. With the induction of Justices Anjaria, Bishnoi, and Chandurkar, the apex court has reached its full sanctioned strength of 34 judges.
Justice NV Anjaria, the current chief justice of the Karnataka high court, hails from the Gujarat high court. Justice Vijay Bishnoi, chief justice of the Gauhati high court, is originally from the Rajasthan high court. Justice AS Chandurkar is a sitting judge of the Bombay high court.
The collegium that recommended their elevation includes the five senior-most judges of the apex court: CJI Gavai, and justices Surya Kant, Vikram Nath, JK Maheshwari, and BV Nagarathna.
People familiar with the process told HT earlier that the chosen names reflect a continued emphasis on regional representation and judicial seniority. A discussion on the elevation of women judges was reportedly deferred until the retirement of Justice Bela M Trivedi, who is set to demit office on June 9. Her last working day was May 16, owing to an overseas trip. Once she retires, Justice Nagarathna will remain the sole woman judge in the top court.
On the same day the collegium recommended these appointments, it also proposed five new chief justices for various high courts and the reshuffling of four others. Additionally, 22 judges were transferred to different postings, in line with administrative needs and personal requests — a development first highlighted by HT in its May 23 report.
These actions come amid ongoing efforts by the highest judiciary to improve transparency and accountability. Under former CJI Sanjiv Khanna's leadership, the Supreme Court began publishing collegium resolutions, judge profiles, and asset declarations on its website earlier this month— a landmark move towards institutional openness.
The new appointments also follow a period of heightened scrutiny of the judiciary, especially after unaccounted cash was discovered at the residence of a sitting high court judge, Justice Yashwant Varma. On May 8, the Supreme Court confirmed that an inquiry report and Justice Varma's response had been sent to the President and Prime Minister. The former CJI had recommended initiating removal proceedings after a three-judge inquiry panel found substance in the allegations.