Supreme Court: Three new judges take oath, working strength rises to 37

Chief Justice Surya Kant on Tuesday administered the oath of office to three new judges elevated to the Supreme Court taking the courts working strength to 37 one short of its sanctioned strength of 38 news agency PTI reportedJustices Sunita Agarwal Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Aparesh Kumar Singh took oath at the auditorium of the new Supreme Court blockAll Supreme Court judges judicial officers and officials from various high courts were present at the ceremony Family members and lawyers from the Supreme Court and other high courts also attended the occasionOn Monday Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal announced that the government had cleared the names of the three judges The Supreme Court Collegium had recommended their names on September 28The apex courts sanctioned strength is 38 judges including the Chief Justice of India Its working strength which stood at 34 has risen to 37 following the swearingin of the three new judges The sanctioned strength was recently increased from 34 to 38 following the Supreme Court Amendment Act 2026With Justice Sunita Agarwals appointment the number of women judges in the Supreme Court has risen to three She joins Justice B V Nagarathna who has been a judge of the top court since August 31 2021 and Justice Venkita Subramani Mohana who was appointed on June 2 2026While Justices Agarwal and Nagarathna have served in high courts Justice Mohana was elevated directly from the Bar She had been a senior advocate of the Supreme CourtJustice Nagarathna is also set to become the Chief Justice of India for less than a month in 2027Justices Agarwal and Upadhyaya are originally from the Allahabad High Court while Justice Singh belongs to the Jharkhand High Court Justice Agarwal served as Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court Justice Upadhyaya as Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court and Justice Singh as Chief Justice of the Telangana High CourtJustice Sunita AgarwalJustice Sunita Agarwal was born on April 30 1966 and enrolled as an advocate with the UP Bar Association on December 16 1990After 21 years of practice she was elevated as an additional judge of the Allahabad High Court on November 21 2011 She was appointed a permanent judge on August 6 2013After serving as a judge of the Allahabad High Court for 12 years Justice Agarwal was appointed Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court on July 23 2023Justice Devendra Kumar UpadhyayaJustice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya was born on June 16 1965 in Muskarai village of Uttar Pradeshs Ambedkar Nagar district He graduated in law from Lucknow University in 1991 and enrolled as an advocate on May 11 1991He was appointed chief standing counsel for Uttar Pradesh in May 2007 and continued in the post until his elevation as a judge of the Allahabad High CourtHe was appointed a puisne judge of the Allahabad High Court on November 21 2011 and took oath as a permanent judge on August 6 2013Justice Upadhyaya took oath as Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court on July 29 2023 and was transferred as Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court on January 21 2025Justice Aparesh Kumar SinghJustice Aparesh Kumar Singh was born on July 7 1965 and obtained his LLB degree from the University of DelhiHe enrolled as an advocate in the Patna High Court in 1990 and practised there until 2000 He has practised in the Jharkhand High Court since 2001He was appointed an additional judge of the Jharkhand High Court on January 24 2012 and was confirmed as a permanent judge on January 16 2014Justice Singh served as acting Chief Justice of the Jharkhand High Court from December 20 2022 to February 19 2023He took oath as Chief Justice of the Tripura High Court on April 17 2023 and was transferred as Chief Justice of the Telangana High Court on July 19 2025With PTI inputs