SC gets 9 judges, including 3 women

President Ram Nath Kovind on Thursday notified nine names recommended by the Supreme Court collegium for appointment as top court judges, raising the strength of the court to 33. The top court has a sanctioned strength of 34.

These include chief justices of Karnataka High Court, AS Oka, Gujarat HC’s Vikram Nath, Sikkim HC’s J.K. Maheshwari and Telangana HC’s Hima Kohli.

Judges from the HC elevated to the top court include Justice BV Nagarathna of the Karnataka HC, Justice CT Ravi Kumar of the Kerala HC, Justice MM Sundresh of the Madras HC and Justice Bela M Trivedi of the Gujarat High Court.


Former ASG PS Narasimha was the sole member from the top court bar to be elevated directly as a judge of the top court in this round of appointments. Both Nagarathna and Narasimha will be future CJIs of India.

Nagarathna, daughter of 19th Chief Justice of India ES Venkataramiah, will have the distinction of becoming the first woman CJI of the country for a month in 2027. Her father held the post for six months. Though there have been many women judges in the top court, no one has held the top post so far.

Narasimha will be CJI for over a year. All the judges will be sworn in on Aug 31.