4 new apex court judges take charge

The Supreme Court on Wednesday got four new judges after Justice Prafull Chandra Pant, Justice Abhay Manohar Sapre, Justice R Banumathi and Justice Uday Umesh Lalit assumed charge after being administered the oath of office by Chief Justice of India  R M Lodha.

With this, the number of judges in the apex court rose to 30 against the sanctioned strength of 31. Justices Pant, 62, Sapre, 59, and Bhanumati, 58, were the chief justices of the Meghalaya High Court, Gauhati High Court and Jharkhand High Court respectively.

Justice Lalit (58), who was a senior advocate and in the panel recommended by the Supreme Court collegium, has been elevated as an apex court judge directly from the Bar.

Justice Pant was appointed as the first chief justice of the Meghalaya High Court in September, 2013. He along with Justice Banumathi, started their career from state judicial service. He joined the UP Judicial Service in 1976 and held different posts.

Justice Banumathi, who had joined Tamil Nadu Higher Judicial Service in 1988 as a direct recruit district judge, will have a seven-year tenure in the apex court. She was the chief justice of Jharkhand HC.