The apex court has approximately 47,000 cases pending before it.While President Pratibha Patil signed the warrants of appointment of three judges on Saturday, the files of appointment of two more judges are likely to reach the Law Ministry in the next few days.
Sources in the government said that Patil has signed the warrants of appointment of justices J S Khehar, Ranjana Desai and S J Mukhopadhyay for their elevation to the apex court.
Justice Khehar is the Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court, while Justice Mukhopadhyay heads the Gujarat High Court.
Justice Desai is currently serving at the Bombay High Court.The sources said the government has been sounded about the decision of the Supreme Court Collegium to elevate Delhi High Court Chief Justice Deepak Misra and Kerala High Court Chief Justice J Chelameswar to the apex court.
Their files are likely to reach the Law Ministry shortly.With the elevation of Justice Desai, the apex court will have two women judges, the other being Justice Gyan Sudha Mishra.
While the apex court has an approved strength of 31 judges, it is currently functioning with 26 judges.While two judges will retire this month, two others will retire in October.