The Supreme Court collegium recommended the elevation of four high court chief justices and senior advocate V Mohana as judges of the apex court on Wednesday. This comes following the recent expansion of the Supreme Court's sanctioned strength, as reported by Hindustan Times.
The collegium, headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, recommended the names of justices Sheel Nagu, Shree Chandrashekhar, Sanjeev Sachdeva, and Arun Palli, along with senior advocate Mohana.
The recommendations will now be sent to the Union government for approval and issuance of warrants of appointment by the President.
Appointments come amid expanded court strength
The latest recommendations come shortly after the Centre increased the sanctioned strength of the Supreme Court from 33 to 37 judges, excluding the CJI, through the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Ordinance, 2026.
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The move was aimed at addressing mounting pendency in the apex court, where pending cases have crossed 92,000.
The appointments also come ahead of several retirements in the coming months. Justice Pankaj Mithal is set to retire in June, followed by justices JK Maheshwari, Sanjay Karol, and Satish Chandra Sharma later this year, HT reported.
Who are the recommended names?
Justice Sheel Nagu currently heads the Punjab and Haryana High Court and earlier served in the Madhya Pradesh High Court. Justice Shree Chandrashekhar is the present Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court and earlier served in the Jharkhand High Court.
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Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva, currently Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court, earlier served as a judge of the Delhi High Court. Justice Arun Palli heads the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court and has dealt with constitutional, labour, and criminal matters during his judicial career.
The recommendation of V Mohana is significant as it could increase the number of women judges in the Supreme Court, which currently has only one woman judge, Justice BV Nagarathna.
