New Delhi, Oct. 6: The Supreme Court on Tuesday got three new judges — Justice Sunita Agarwal, Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyay and Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh — who were administered the oath of office by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant. With their swearing-in, the strength of the Supreme Court, including the CJI, has risen to 37, one short of its sanctioned strength of 38 judges.
Before their elevation, Justice Sunita Agarwal served as Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court, Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyay as Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court and Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh as Chief Justice of the Telangana High Court.
It was the first time that the swearing-in of judges of the Supreme Court took place after lunch.
The Supreme Court Collegium, at its meeting on September 28, 2026, had recommended the elevation of Justice Agarwal, Justice Upadhyay and Justice Singh to the Supreme Court. President Droupadi Murmu appointed them as Supreme Court judges on Monday, October 5. Union Law and Justice Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal announced their appointments.
With the swearing-in of Justice Agarwal, the Supreme Court now has three women judges — Justice B.V. Nagarathna, Justice V. Mohana and Justice Agarwal. Justice Mohana was appointed directly from the Supreme Court Bar.
Justice Nagarathna is due to become the first woman Chief Justice of India on September 24, 2027, though for a brief tenure of 46 days. She is known for expressing her views with candour and forthrightness and for adopting a broad, purposive approach to constitutional and legal interpretation.
The Allahabad High Court is the parent High Court of both Justice Agarwal and Justice Upadhyay, while the Jharkhand High Court is the parent High Court of Justice Singh.
With the elevation of Justices Agarwal and Upadhyay, the Supreme Court now has four judges from the Allahabad High Court. The Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Punjab and Haryana High Courts have three judges each in the Supreme Court.
The Andhra Pradesh, Bombay, Calcutta, Delhi, Gauhati, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madras and Rajasthan High Courts have two judges each in the Supreme Court.
The Chhattisgarh, Kerala and Patna High Courts have one judge each in the Supreme Court.
Justice Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha, Justice K.V. Viswanathan and Justice V. Mohana were appointed directly from the Supreme Court Bar.
Pramod kumar is a Senior Journalist, Covering Supreem Court of India
