Justice Joseph, 2 others take oath as SC judges

Justice K M Joseph on Tuesday assumed charge as a Supreme Court judge along with justices Indira Banerjee and Vineet Saran, amid a row over his seniority being lowered on elevation.

Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra administered the oath of office to justices Indira, Saran and Joseph in a ceremony held in his court in the order of seniority determined by the government. All other judges and the family members of the new judges were present on the occasion.

Justice Joseph, who, as the Chief Justice of the Uttarakhand High Court, had quashed the imposition of President's Rule by the NDA government in the hill state in 2016 when it was ruled by the Congress, was sworn in after justices Indira Banerjee and Vineet Saran.

Justice Indira was the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court, while Justice Saran was the Chief Justice of the Odisha High Court.

Indira Banerjee is the eighth woman judge in the Supreme Court since Independence. The apex court will now, for the first time in its history, have three sitting women judges, the others being justices R Banumathi and Indu Malhotra.

With the appointment of the three judges, the total strength of the apex court goes up to 25 against the sanctioned strength of 31.

Several judges had earlier lodged a protest with the CJI over the government's decision to put Justice Joseph below justices Indira and Saran.

After the swearing-in, Indira Banerjee sat in the bench presided over by the CJI, while justices Saran and Joseph were part of the bench in court number two and three respectively.