On Tuesday, three new Supreme Court judges—Sanita Agarwal, Devendra Kumar Upadhya, and Aparesha Kumar Singh—took the oath on behalf of God. This increased the working strength of the Supreme Court to 37 judges, which is one less than the established norm.
Chief Justice Surya Kant presided over the oath-taking ceremony for Judges Agarwal, Upadhya, and Singh. These judges previously held positions as chief judges of the High Courts of Gujarat, Delhi, and Telangana, respectively. The ceremony was attended by Supreme Court judges, Attorney General R Venkataraman, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, and other senior advocates and legal professionals.
With the appointment of Judge Agarwal, who is the thirteenth woman judge in the Supreme Court, the total number of women judges in the apex court has now reached three. The two other women judges are Judge B V Nagarathna, who plans to become the first woman Chief Justice next September, and Judge V Mohana.
During the tenure of Judge N V Ramana as Chief Justice, the Supreme Court had the highest number of active judges—four: Judges India Banerjee, Nagarathna, Hima Kohli, and Bela M Trivedi. The latter three took the oath on August 31, 2021. Although the Collegium under Judge Ramana recommended appointing three women judges, the current Collegium headed by Chief Justice Kant has appointed only two women judges so far.
The first woman judge of the Supreme Court was appointed M Fatima Bibi on October 6, 1989, 39 years after the establishment of the Court. Judge Bibi retired from the Kerala High Court on April 29, 1989, but was promoted to the Supreme Court five months after retirement. Other women judges of the Supreme Court include Judges Sujata V Manohar, Ruma Pal, Gyan Sudha Mishra, Ranjana P Desai, R Bhanumati, and Indu Malhotra.
The number of Supreme Court judges was increased from 34 to 38, including the Chief Justice, initially through an Order dated May 16. The corresponding amendment Act was passed by Parliament and approved by the President on August 11. In August 2019, during the tenure of Chief Justice Ranjana Gogoi, the established number of Supreme Court judges was increased from 31 to 34, including the Chief Justice.
The Supreme Court was established in 1950 with an approved strength of 8 judges, which was increased to 11 in 1956, to 14 in 1960, to 18 in 1978, to 26 in 1986, and to 31 in 2009. As of Tuesday, the Supreme Court has 95,481 cases pending.