Govt clears names of 9 judges sent by Collegium for elevation to Supreme Court

NEW DELHI: The Narendra Modi-led NDA government at the Centre has reportedly approved all the nine names of judges recommended by the Collegium for elevation to the Supreme Court.

Three women are among the 9 names recommended by the Supreme Court Collegium for appointments as judges of the top court. 

Notably, Justice BV Nagarathna of the Karnataka High Court, who is also among the three women judges recommended by the Collegium, is in line to become the first Chief Justice of India.

After the Centre’s nod, the names have been sent to President Ram Nath Kovind for issuing warrants of appointments. The top court currently has 24 judges against a sanctioned strength of 35.

Highly placed sources were quoted as saying by media reports that the recommendations have been “processed, approved and forwarded to the President for issuance of warrants of appointment”. 

The Supreme Court Collegium, comprising Chief Justice N V Ramana and Justices U U Lalit, A M Khanwilkar, D Y Chandrachud and L Nageswara Rao, had on August 17 recommended nine names, including eight High Court judges and an advocate, for elevation to the apex court.

The nine nominated by it were four High Court Chief Justices —Vikram Nath (Gujarat), A S Oka (Karnataka), Hima Kohli (Telangana) and J K Maheshwari (Sikkim) — four High Court judges Justices B V Nagarathna (Karnataka), M M Sundresh (Madras), C T Ravikumar (Kerala) and Bela M Trivedi (Gujarat), and Senior Advocate P S Narasimha.