History as 9 judges take oath in a day
SC now has 4 women judges; Justice Nagarathna slated to be CJI
Chief Justice of India Justice N.V. Ramana administered the oath to nine judges, including Justice B.V. Nagarathna who will become the first woman CJI in 2027.
Justice Nagarathna will be the second person to be the second generation CJI after Justice D.Y. Chandrachud. Her father Justice E.S. Venkataramaiah was the 19th CJI and held the post for almost six months in 1989.
With the swearing in of nine judges on Tuesday, the total strength of the top court goes up to 33, just one short of the sanctioned strength of 34.
The ceremony was held in the top court auditorium in the new building complex. It was a departure from the earlier practice of Chief Justice of India administering oath in Court No. 1 one in the main building.
Reports said that the swearing in of nine judges in one day was a record.
The judges were administered the oath in order of their seniority, starting with Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka, followed by Justice Vikram Nath, Justice Jitendra Kumar Maheshwari, Justice Hima Kohli, Justice B.V. Nagarathna, Justice C.T. Ravikumar, Justice M.M. Sundresh, Justice Bela M. Trivedi and Justice P.S. Narasimha.
After the swearing-in ceremony, all new judges were seated on the bench from court number one to nine.
The top court, which came into being on January 26, 1950, has seen only eight women judges since its inception and the first one — Justice M. Fathima Beevi — was elevated to the bench as late as in 1989. This is for the first time in the history of the Supreme Court of India when nine judges have taken the Oath of Office in one go, the apex court had said.