तीन नए न्यायाधीशों की शपथ से सुप्रीम कोर्ट की शक्ति 37 तक पहुँची

Three new Supreme Court judges took oath on Tuesday (October 6, 2026), raising the working strength to 37 even as pendency hovers near one lakh.

Chief Justice of India Surya Kant administered the oath of office to Justices Sunita Agarwal, Devendra Kumar Upadhyay and Aparesh Kumar Singh at the Supreme Court.

The three judges were sworn in a day after the Centre notified their appointments. The Supreme Court Collegium had recommended their names to the government on September 28.

The appointment of the new judges has increased the number of working judges in the apex court to one short of its sanctioned judicial strength of 38 (which includes the CJI).

Justice Agarwal was serving as the Gujarat High Court Chief Justice before her appointment to the Supreme Court. The parent High Court of the judge is Allahabad.

Justice Upadhyay’s parent High Court is also Allahabad though he was serving as the Delhi High Court Chief Justice at the time of his recommendation to the apex court.

With the addition of Justices Agarwal and Upadhyay, the number of judges whose parent High Court is Allahabad has doubled from two — Justices Vikram Nath and Manoj Misra — to four. Allahabad High Court has the highest representation on the Supreme Court Bench currently.

The parent High Court of the third newly appointed judge, Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh, is Jharkhand. After Justice Shree Chandrashekhar, Justice Singh is the second judge who originally belonged to Jharkhand High Court.

Justice Singh was Telangana High Court Chief Justice before his appointment to the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court has currently three serving women judges on the Bench. The seniormost among the three, Justice B.V. Nagarathna, is a member of the Supreme Court Collegium. Justice V. Mohana is a direct elevation from the Supreme Court Bar in May this year. The year 2026 has seen back-to-back Supreme Court Collegium recommendations for women judges on the apex court Bench.

The last time the court saw multiple appointments of women in the same year was in 2021 when Justices Hima Kohli, Nagarathna, and Bela M. Trivedi were recommended and appointed in the same batch. Justice Nagarathna is in the line of seniority to be the first woman Chief Justice of India in 2027.

Published - October 06, 2026 05:20 pm IST

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