SC gets 3 new judges on Friday; apex court to regain full strength

New Delhi: Chief Justice of India B R Gavai is scheduled to administer the oath of office to three new judges of the Supreme Court on Friday.

Three judges -- Karnataka High Court Chief Justice N V Anjaria, Gauhati High Court Chief Justice Vijay Bishnoi, and Bombay High Court judge Justice A S Chandurkar -- were appointed to the Supreme Court on Thursday.

Once they take oath, the apex court will regain its full working strength of 34 judges, including the CJI.

Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal announced their appointment on X.

"In exercise of the powers conferred by the Constitution of India, the President, after consultation with Chief Justice of India, is pleased to appoint S/Shri Justices (i) N.V. Anjaria, Chief Justice, High Court of Karnataka, (ii) Vijay Bishnoi, Chief Justice, High Court of Gauhati and (iii) A.S. Chandurkar, Judge, High Court of Bombay as Judges of the Supreme Court of India," he said.

As Supreme Court judge Justice Bela M Trivedi is set to superannuate on June 9, one vacancy of judge will arise.

The apex court collegium headed by the CJI had on May 26 recommended the appointment of Justices Anjaria, Bishnoi and Chandurkar as judges of the top court.

Their names were recommended against the three existing vacancies of judges in the top court following the superannuation of former CJI Sanjiv Khanna, and Justices Abhay S Oka and Hrishikesh Roy.

Justice Anjaria took oath as the chief justice of Karnataka High Court on February 25, 2024. Earlier, he was elevated as additional judge, Gujarat High Court, on November 21, 2011 and confirmed as a permanent judge on September 6, 2013.

Born on March 23, 1965 at Ahmedabad, Justice Anjaria obtained a Master's degree in law in 1989 from University School of Law, Ahmedabad. He started law practice in the Gujarat High Court from August 1988 and conducted matters involving constitutional issues and all categories of civil cases, labour and service.

Justice Bishnoi took oath as the chief justice of the Gauhati High Court on February 5, 2024. He was appointed an additional judge of the Rajasthan High Court on January 8, 2013 and took oath as a permanent judge of the high court on January 7, 2015.

Born on March 26, 1964 in Jodhpur, Justice Bishnoi was enrolled as an advocate on July 8, 1989. He practised law at the Rajasthan High Court and the Central Administrative Tribunal at Jodhpur.

Born on April 7, 1965, Justice Chandurkar joined the Bar on July 21, 1988 after obtaining a law degree.

Justice Chandurkar shifted to Nagpur in 1992 and practised in various courts. He was elevated as an additional judge of the Bombay High Court on June 21, 2013.