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In a significant development today, Chief Justice of India NV Ramana  administered oath to nine new judges as “Justices of the Supreme Court”.

With the swearing-in of the nine new judges, the strength of the Supreme Court has now risen to 33, including the Chief Justice NV Ramana out of the sanctioned strength of 34.

The list includes Gujarat High Court Chief Justice Vikram Nath, Sikkim High Court Chief Justice J K Maheshwari, Telangana High Court Chief Justice Hima Kohli, Karnataka High Court judge Justice B V Nagarathna, Justice C T Ravikumar of Kerala High Court, Justice M M Sundaresh of Madras High Court, Justice Bela Trivedi of Gujarat High Court, and senior advocate P S Narasimha.

Among the nine judges that took oath in the auditorium of the Supreme Court’s additional building complex, three are women constituting 33 percent of the newly elevated judges.

Among the three woman Judges Justice NV Ranganathan could be India’s first woman Chief Justice in September 2027.

Apart from Justice Ranganathan, Justice P Narsimha Rao and Justice Vikarm Nath will join the line of succession for the office of Chief Justice of India.

While Justices Nath and Narasimha are likely to have a tenure of just over six months, Justice Nagarathna is likely to have a relatively short tenure of just over a month.

Supreme Court now has 4 sitting women Judges with Justice Indira Banerjee, a first in the history of Indian Judiciary.

Justice Nagarathna served as a judge of the Karnataka High Court from 2008 to 2021. Her father Justice ES Vankararamiah was the 19th Chief Justice of India.

Justice Nagarathna was enrolled with the Bar Council of Karnataka in 1987 and practiced constitutional and commercial law in Bangalore before being appointed as an additional judge of the Karnataka High Court in 2008. She was appointed as a permanent judge on 17 February 2010.