Centre Appoints 5 New Supreme Court Judges, Apex Court Nears Full Strength

In separate notifications issued by the Ministry of Law and Justice, the Centre cleared the appointments of Senior Advocate Venkita Subramani Mohana, Justice Shree Chandrashekhar, Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court, Justice Sheel Nagu, Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva, Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court, and Justice Arun Palli, Chief Justice of the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court.

The appointments will come into effect after the appointees take oath and formally assume office as judges of the Supreme Court. The oath taking ceremony is likely to take place on June 2.

The appointments follow the recommendation made by the Supreme Court Collegium on May 27. The Centre approved all five names within four days.

The elevation of the five judges comes shortly after the Union government increased the Supreme Court’s sanctioned strength from 34 to 38 judges, including the Chief Justice of India, through an ordinance promulgated last month. The expansion had created six vacancies in the apex court, including two pre-existing vacancies. "The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi today has approved the proposal for introducing The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Bill, 2026 in Parliament to amend The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, 1956 for increasing the number of Judges of the Supreme Court of India by 4 from the present 33 to 37 (excluding the Chief Justice of India)," the government had said in a statement.

With the latest appointments, the Supreme Court is now functioning with 37 judges, leaving only one position yet to be filled.

Among the appointees, Venkita Subramani Mohana becomes one of the few senior advocates to be directly elevated to the Supreme Court Bench. The remaining four appointees are serving Chief Justices of various High Courts across the country.