Supreme Court at full strength after elevation of two judges

Names of Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Jamshed Burjor Pardiwala were submitted on Thursday evening and endorsed on Saturday: Supreme Court.: File photo

R. Balaji   |   TT  |  New Delhi   |   08.05.22 : The Centre has cleared within 48 hours the collegium’s recommendation of two judges for elevation to the Supreme Court.

The names of Gauhati High Court Chief Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia and Justice Jamshed Burjor Pardiwala of Gujarat High Court were submitted on Thursday evening and endorsed on Saturday.

Usually, the Union government takes at least a fortnight, more often a month or longer, to clear such appointments. None could recall the last time a recommendation for promotion to the Supreme Court had been cleared in less than two days.

The number of Supreme Court judges has now risen to 33, against the sanctioned strength of 34, including the Chief Justice of India.

Legal veterans speaking on the speedy decision-making pointed to Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana’s firm, deft and no-nonsense approach.

Since 2014, there had been constant friction between the NDA government and the collegium over the appointments and transfers of judges. On several occasions, the government had been at loggerheads with the collegium, refusing to clear recommendations and raising objections.

However after Justice Ramana assumed charge in April last year, there has been a thaw.

Last August, an unprecedented nine judges were inducted into the Supreme Court at one go. Although the Centre had objected to some of the names, the collegium had rejected the objections leaving the government with no choice but to accept the recommendations.

There had been speculation over Justice Pardiwala’s elevation to the Supreme Court but matters appear to have been put to rest with Saturday’s formal notification from the Union law ministry.