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Updated August 18th, 2021 at 09:07 IST

SC collegium recommends 9 justices to Govt; B V Nagarathna to be 1st woman CJI if approved

The nation is set to get its first women Chief Justice of India - B V Nagarathna in 2027 as the Supreme Court Collegium has recommended nine judges to Centre

Supreme Court
IMAGE: PTI/Karnataka judiciary | Image:self
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Marking a first for India, the nation is set to get its first women Chief Justice of India - B V Nagarathna in 2027 as the Supreme Court Collegium has recommended nine judges to the Centre on Wednesday, after a long delay. As per sources, the SC collegium headed by CJI NV Ramanna, has recommended three women justices - Hima Kohli, B V Nagarathna and Bela Trivedi. Apart from them, SC collegium has also recommended Sr Advocate PS Narasimhan, justices AS Oka, JK Maheshwari, CT Ravindra Kumar and MM Sundaresh for appointment to the apex court.

India to get the first woman CJI?

With the retirement of justice Rohinton F. Nariman on August 12, the strength of the SC judges reduced to 25 against a sanctioned strength of 34. Moreover, with Justice Navin Sinha set to retire on August 19, the vacancies are set to rise to 10. In the last two years, the Collegium has failed to recommend a single name to be appointed as a judge in the Supreme Court. The last appointment was made in September 2019 by then-CJI Ranjan Gogoi and even his own predecessor S A Bobde failed to fill his own vacancy.

Reports stated that ex-CJI Bobde was keen on recommending Karnataka High Court judge Justice B.V. Nagarathna for elevation to the Supreme Court, but Justices Abhay Oka and Akil Kureshi topped in the All India Seniority List of high court judges. While there was consensus to elevate Nagarathna, thus having the first woman CJI, reports state that some of the collegium members wanted to decide between Oka and Kureshi for elevation. The collegium headed by CJI N V Ramanna, comprises of Justices U.U. Lalit, A.M. Khanwilkar and D.Y. Chandrachud.

Recently, the SC came down heavily on the Centre for not appointing High Court judges and warned that the Centre's administration will come to a standstill if this attitude continues. “The government authority must realise that this is not how it will work. If you want to bring the judicial system to a standstill, your system will also come to a standstill. You cannot let the third pillar of democracy come to a standstill,” said the SC bench. 

In response, the Centre told Lok Sabha that of the 505 names recommended by various high court collegiums in the last three years, 209 candidates were appointed as high court judges. In addition to the remaining 143 names, 94 fresh proposals have been received from high court collegiums in 2021, which are under various stages of processing with the government and the SC collegium. The minister informed the House that in 2018, 2019 and 2020, the Supreme Court collegium made 18 recommendations for appointment of judges in the top court and all of them were appointed.

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Published August 18th, 2021 at 09:07 IST

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