Chief Justice of India administers oath to new Supreme Court judges

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday functioned with its full strength of 34 judges as two news judges Justices Alok Aradhe and Vipul Manubhai Pancholi, a future Chief Justice of India, were administered the oath of office on Friday.

Chief Justice of India B R Gavai read the oath to the judges in a swearing in ceremony attended by all the Supreme Court judges and advocates in its premises.

The development comes after the Centre on Wednesday cleared the recommendation of the Supreme Court Collegium for the elevation of Justice Aradhe, Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court, and Justice Pancholi, Chief Justice of Patna High Court, as judges of the apex court.

On Monday, the five-judge Collegium led by CJI also comprises justices Surya Kant, Vikram Nath, J K Maheshwari, and B V Nagarathna made the resolution on the two appointments by 4:1.

The Centre fast-tracked its decision and notified the elevation of the judges within merely two days.

Notably, in the Collegium, Justice Nagarathna had dissented on the recommendation on elevation of Justice Pancholi, citing his 57th rank in the all-India list of seniority of the judges of the high court.

The dissent note reportedly also raised the issue of regional representation, as the ground for opposition to the elevation of Justice Pancholi. Justice Nagarathna also referred to the circumstances of Justice Pancholi's transfer from the Gujarat to the Patna High Court.

Justice Pancholi is in line to be the Chief Justice of India from October 3, 2031 upon retirement of Justice Joymalya Bagchi and continue on to the post till May 27, 2033.