5/13/2016

Four new Supreme Court judges sworn in - The

NATIONAL

NewDelhi,May13,2016

FournewSupremeCourtjudgesswornin
IANS
JusticeA.M.Khanwilkar,JusticeD.Y.Chandrachud,JusticeAshokBhushanandtheformeradditionalsolicitorgeneralL.NageswaraRao
weresworninasjudgesoftheSupremeCourtonFriday.
Withthis,theapexcourtsstrengthhasincreasedto29,withtwoslotsstillvacant.
JusticeKhanwilkarwastheChiefJusticeofMadhyaPradeshHighCourtatJabalpur,JusticeChandrachudwastheChiefJusticeofAllahabad
HighCourtandJusticeBhushanwasChiefJusticeoftheKeralaHighCourt.
JusticeChandrachudisthesonoftheformerChiefJusticeofIndiaY.V.ChandrachudwhoservedfromFebruary22,1978toJuly11,1985.
L.NageshwaraRao,whohailsfromAndhraPradeshservedasadditionalsolicitorgeneralfromAugust2003tillheresignedin2004andthen
fromAugust2013toMay2014andfromJune7toDecember15,2014.HehadappearedforTamilNaduChiefMinisterJayalalithaainacase
ofdisproportionateassetsintheapexcourt.
WiththeswearinginofJusticeKhanwilkarandJusticeChandrachudbothfromMaharashtrathenumberofjudgesfromthestatehas
goneuptofive.Theswearinginofthenewjusticestookplaceafteragapofoverayear.
JusticeAmitavaRoywasthelastjudgetobesworninonFebruary27,2015beforetheentireappointmentprocesswasputonholdon
accountofchallengetoNationalJudicialAppointmentsCommission(NJAC)ActandtheconstitutionalamendmentpavingwayforNJAC
thatwasenactedtoreplacethecollegiumsystemofappointingjudges.
ThetopcourtsconstitutionbenchhadstruckdownboththeconstitutionalamendmentandtheNJAConOctober16,2015.