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Supreme Court Collegium Recommends Three High Court Chief Justices for Elevation
New Delhi, – In a significant move to fill vacancies in the nation's highest court, the has recommended the of three High Court Chief Justices as judges of the . The recommendations, announced following a meeting of the on September 28, include Justice Sunita Agarwal of the , Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya of the , and Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh of the .
The 's Recommendations
The five-member , headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and comprising Justices Vikram Nath, BV Nagarathna, MM Sundresh, and PS Narasimha, finalized the names after considering the seniority and merit of High Court Chief Justices across the country. The three recommended judges rank fourth, fifth, and sixth in the all-India of High Court Chief Justices.
If approved by the , the appointments will raise the Supreme Court's from the current 34 judges to 37 — just one short of the of 38. The process now moves to the government for clearance under , after which formal and will follow.
A Notable Moment for the
A particularly striking feature of this round of recommendations is the simultaneous of two judges whose is the . Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya both began their judicial careers on the Allahabad bench before being elevated as Chief Justices of other High Courts.
Justice Agarwal, who took charge of the in , will—if elevated—become the third woman judge currently serving on the Supreme Court. She graduated in law from Awadh University in 1989 and has practiced since . Elevated as a judge of the in , she has served as Chief Justice of the since . She is due to retire from the High Court in , but upon to the apex court, her retirement is expected in .
Justice Upadhyaya has served as Chief Justice of the since . Born in in Uttar Pradesh's Ambedkar Nagar district, he graduated in law from Lucknow University in and practiced extensively in civil and . He was appointed as a judge of the in and made permanent in . Before moving to Delhi, he served as Chief Justice of the . Notably, Justice Upadhyaya had earlier submitted a report to the then Chief Justice of India regarding the controversy involving judge Justice Yashwant Varma, recommending a deeper probe into the matter. He is due to retire in .
Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh: A Link to Jharkhand
The third recommended judge, Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh, brings representation from the —a state that currently has no judge in the Supreme Court. His is Jharkhand, from where he was elevated as a judge from the Bar in . He served as of the in before taking charge as Chief Justice of the in . He assumed the role of Chief Justice of the in .
Justice Singh hails from a family with a distinguished judicial lineage. His maternal great-grandfather, the late B P Sinha, served as the sixth Chief Justice of India. Justice Singh is due to retire in .
Existing Vacancies and the Road Ahead
The 's recommendations come at a time when the apex court is operating with four vacancies below its . Justice Satish Chandra Sharma is due to retire on , and CJI Surya Kant is set to retire on . Justice Vikram Nath is expected to succeed him as Chief Justice, with Justice BV Nagarathna in line to become India's first woman Chief Justice of India following Justice Nath's retirement in .
The government will now process the 's recommendations. If approved, the appointments will not only fill critical vacancies but also bring a significant boost to the Supreme Court's diversity and regional representation.
