Nine new SC judges administered oath of office

With the swearing-in of the nine new judges, the strength of the Supreme Court would rise to 33, including the CJI, out of the sanctioned strength of 34

For the first time in history of the Supreme Court, nine new judges, including three women, were administered the oath of office on Tuesday, taking the number of judges in the top court to 33.

All the judges also joined the bench after the ceremony organised at the auditorium in the Supreme Court's additional building.

Chief Justice of India N V Ramana administered the oath to the judges in order of seniority.

For the first time, the venue of the ceremony, usually held in CJI's courtroom, was shifted to the auditorium and telecast live.

According to the official sources, this was done keeping in view the need for strict adherence to Covid norms.

Justices A S Oka, Vikram Nath, J K Maheshwari, Hima Kohli, B V Nagarathna, C T Ravikumar, M M Sundresh, Bela Trivedi and senior advocate P S Narsimha took the oath one by one in the programme.

Of these nine judges, Justices Vikram Nath, and B V Nagarathna and Narsimha would assume the office of the CJI in future.

Here are brief profiles of new SC judges:

Justice Abhay S Oka: Born on May 25, 1960, he was enrolled as an advocate on June 28, 1983, and practiced in the Bombay High Court in civil, constitutional and service matters. He was appointed as an Additional Judge of the Bombay High Court on August 29, 2003, and as permanent Judge on November 12, 2005. He was elevated as Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court on May 10, 2019. As Chief Justice of Karnataka HC, he delivered several orders on civil liberties. He took the government to task during Covid-19 pandemic on the issue of migrant workers. He also passed orders to ensure potholes-free road in Bengaluru.

Justice Vikram Nath: Born on September 24, 1962, he got enrolled as an advocate on March 30, 1987. He practiced in the Allahabad High Court in civil, revenue, constitutional, company and service matters and specialised in company, revenue and civil matters. He was appointed as an Additional Judge of the Allahabad High Court on September 24, 2004, and as Permanent Judge on February 27, 2006. He was appointed as Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court on September 10, 2019. He would assume the office of CJI in 2027 for about seven months. As Chief Justice of Gujarat HC, Justice Nath took the path-breaking initiative of live streaming proceedings. He also headed the bench that recently stayed some provisions of Gujarat law related to check inter-faith marriage, saying it would not apply to alliances made without force, allurement or fraudulent means.

Justice Jitendra Kumar Maheshwari: Born on June 29, 1961, he was enrolled as an advocate on November 22, 1985, and practiced in Madhya Pradesh High Court Bench at Gwalior in civil, constitutional, taxation, labour, company, service and criminal matters and had specialised in constitutional, service and taxation matters. He was appointed as an Additional Judge of the Madhya Pradesh High Court on November 25, 2005 and as permanent judge on November 25, 2008. He was appointed as Chief Justice of Andhra Pradesh High Court on October 7, 2019. He was transferred to Sikkim High Court on January 6, 2021. As Andhra Pradesh HC chief justice, he passed orders to ensure protection of health workers and migrant labourers during the Covid-19 pandemic. He also delivered a judgement holding freedom of speech included to right to opt medium of instruction in mother tongue.

Kumari Justice Hima Kohli: Born on September 2, 1959, she enrolled herself as an advocate on September 20, 1984. She practiced in the Delhi High Court in civil, constitutional, labour, company and service matters. Her field of specialisation was civil matters. She was appointed as an Additional Judge of the Delhi High Court on May 29, 2006, and as permanent judge on August 29, 2007. She was appointed as Chief Justice of the High Court for the State of Telangana on January 7, 2021. As Chief Justice of Telangana HC, she passed several orders to ensure sufficient supply of liquid oxygen and other supplies to ensure proper management of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Justice Bangalore Venkataramiah Nagarathna: Born on October 30, 1962, she was enrolled as an advocate on October 28, 1987, and practiced before the Supreme Court of India, High Court of Karnataka, Central and State Administrative Tribunals and Consumer Redressal Commission, and Company Law Board, New Delhi, in all branches of civil side, constitutional law, service law, public and administrative law, arbitration and conciliation, and rent laws. She specialised in constitutional, administrative, service, insurance, family laws and education matters. She was appointed as an Additional Judge of the Karnataka High Court on February 18, 2008, and as permanent judge on February 17, 2010. She would become the first woman CJI for a brief period of 36 days. Thus, she will be following in the footsteps of her father E S Venkataramiah, who was the CJI between June 1989 and December 1989.

Justice Chudalayil Thevan Ravikumar: Born on January 6, 1960, he enrolled himself as an advocate on July 12, 1986, and practiced in High Court of Kerala and Subordinate Courts in civil, criminal, constitutional, labour and service matters. He was appointed as an Additional Judge of the Kerala High Court on January 5, 2009 and Permanent Judge on December 15, 2010.

Justice M M Sundresh: Born on July 21, 1962, he was enrolled as an advocate on September 11, 1985, and practiced in Madras High Court, Chennai in civil, criminal, constitutional and service matters. He specialised in civil, appellate side and writs. He was appointed as an Additional Judge of the Madras High Court on March 31, 2009 and as Permanent Judge on March 29, 2011.

Justice Bela Madhurya Trivedi: Born on June 10, 1960, she was enrolled as an advocate on September 18, 1983. She practiced in civil, criminal and constitutional matters in Gujarat High Court and specialised in civil and constitutional matters. She was appointed as Judge, City Civil and Sessions Court, Ahmedabad, on July 10, 1995 and served in various capacities at different places as a judicial officer. She was appointed as an Additional Judge of the Gujarat High Court on February 17, 2011 and transferred to Rajasthan High Court on June 26, 2011. She was appointed as Permanent Judge on February 6, 2013. She was repatriated to Gujarat High Court on February 9, 2016.

Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha: Born on May 3, 1963, he was enrolled as advocate with Bar Council of Andhra Pradesh on August 25, 1988 and practiced in Andhra Pradesh High Court till 1990 and shifted practice to Supreme Court of India in 1990. He was designated as senior advocate by the Full Court of the Supreme Court of India. He was appointed as Additional Solicitor General of India from June 2014 to December 2018. He would don the role of CJI in 2027 between October 30, 2027 and May, 2028. He is ninth Supreme Court judge to be directly appointed from the Bar.