The Centre on Monday appointed five new judges to the Supreme Court, taking the apex court’s working strength to 37 and bringing it closer to its newly expanded sanctioned capacity.
In a post on X, Union Minister for Law and Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal announced that President Droupadi Murmu, after consulting the Chief Justice of India (CJI), had appointed Justices Sheel Nagu, Shree Chandrashekhar, Sanjeev Sachdeva and Arun Palli, along with senior advocate V. Mohana, as judges of the Supreme Court.
Justice Sheel Nagu was appointed a judge of the Madhya Pradesh High Court in May 2011 and went on to become the Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in July 2024. Justice Shree Chandrashekhar was elevated to the Jharkhand High Court in January 2013 and assumed office as the Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court in January 2025.
Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva was appointed an Additional Judge of the Delhi High Court in April 2013 and became a permanent judge in March 2015. He took over as the Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court in July 2025. Justice Arun Palli was elevated as a judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in December 2013 and was appointed Chief Justice of the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court in April 2025.
Senior advocate V. Mohana has been practising before the Supreme Court and has handled several constitutional, civil and service law matters. Her elevation makes her one of the few lawyers to be directly appointed to the apex court bench.
The appointments will take effect once the judges are sworn in and formally assume office.
Last month, President Murmu promulgated the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Ordinance, 2026, raising the sanctioned strength from 33 to 37 judges, excluding the Chief Justice of India (CJI), with a view to tackling mounting pendency and expediting the disposal of cases.
(with IANS input)
