Conscious of the mounting pendency in the Supreme Court and the need to function at its full sanctioned judicial strength of 34 judges, the Collegium headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud on Monday recommended the Chief Justices of three High Courts for appointment to the apex court.
If appointed, Delhi High Court Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma, Rajasthan Chief Justice Augustine George Masih and Gauhati High Court Chief justice Sandeep Mehta would fill up the three vacancies in the Supreme Court.
Currently, the court is functioning with 31 judges.
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“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 of time,” the Supreme Court Collegium observed in its resolution on November 6.
Justice Sharma’s parent High Court is Madhya Pradesh while those of Justices Masih and Mehta are Punjab and Haryana and Rajasthan, respectively.
Justice Sharma is second in the combined all India seniority of High Court judges.
Justice Masih stands at number seven in the seniority list of High Court judges. He belongs to a minority community.
On Justice Mehta, besides discussing his merit as a judge, the Collegium observed that though the Rajasthan High Court is a large one, it has no representation on the Bench of the Supreme Court.
