The Supreme Court (SC) collegium headed by Chief Justice of India N V Ramana cleared nine names for appointments as judges in the Apex Court.
The list includes names of three women judges, including Justice BV Nagarathna from the Karnataka high court, who, if elevated now, could become the country's first woman Chief Justice in 2027.
The other two women judges recommended to the government by the five-member collegium are Justice Hima Kohli, the chief justice of Telangana high court, and Justice Bela Trivedi, a judge in the Gujarat high court.
The other judges recommended for elevation are Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka, Chief Justice of Karnataka high court, Justice Vikram Nath, Chief Justice of Gujarat high court, Justice Jitendra Kumar Maheshwari, Chief Justice of Sikkim high court, Justice CT Ravikumar Judge in Kerala high court and Justice MM Sundresh, judge in Madras high court.
From the bar, the collegium also recommended the name of senior advocate and former Additional Solicitor General PS Narasimha for direct appointment to the bench.
Three out of the nine judges recommended, if accepted, can become Chief Justice of India. Justice Nagarathna could be the CJI in 2027 for a little over a month, reports said.
Apart from the NV Ramana, the collegium comprised justices Uday U Lalit, AM Khanwilkar, Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud and L Nageswara Rao, according to a report in Hindustan Times. This is the first collegium in the last 21 months when the five most senior judges have recommended names to the Centre for appointments in the top court.
The collegium had not sent a single recommendation for appointments in the top court Since the retirement of Justice Ranjan Gogoi as the Chief Justice of India in November 2019
The recommendations, if accepted, will fill all current vacancies in the apex court, and will take the court’s working strength to 33. Justice Rohinton Nariman retired from SC on August 12 while Justice Navin Sinha retires this week.
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