Centre appoints five new Supreme Court judges

New Delhi: Acting on the recommendation of the Supreme Court Collegium, the Centre on Monday cleared the elevation of four High Court Chief Justices and senior advocate V. Mohana as judges of the Supreme Court.

In a post on X, Union Minister for Law and Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal announced that the President, after consultation with the Chief Justice of India (CJI), had appointed Justices Sheel Nagu, Shree Chandrashekhar, Sanjeev Sachdeva and Arun Palli, along with senior advocate V. Mohana, as judges of the apex court.

“In exercise of the power conferred by clause (2) of Article 124 of the Constitution of India, the President of India, after consultation with Chief Justice of India, is pleased to appoint the following as Judges of the Supreme Court of India,” Meghwal said.

The appointments come days after the Supreme Court Collegium recommended the elevation of the four Chief Justices and senior advocate Mohana to the apex court.

“The Supreme Court Collegium, in its meetings held on 22nd & 27th May, 2026, has recommended elevation of the following persons as Judges in the Supreme Court,” the Collegium had said in a statement uploaded on the apex court website.

The recommended names were Justice Sheel Nagu, Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court (Parent High Court: Madhya Pradesh High Court); Justice Shree Chandrashekhar, Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court (Parent High Court: Jharkhand High Court); Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva, Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court (Parent High Court: Delhi High Court); Justice Arun Palli, Chief Justice of the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court (Parent High Court: Punjab and Haryana High Court); and senior advocate V. Mohana.

Justice Nagu was appointed as a judge of the Madhya Pradesh High Court in May 2011 and took over as the Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in July 2024.

Justice Chandrashekhar was elevated as a judge of the Jharkhand High Court in January 2013 and assumed office as the Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court in January 2025.

Justice Sachdeva was appointed an Additional Judge of the Delhi High Court in April 2013 and became a permanent judge in March 2015. He became the Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court in July 2025.

Justice Palli was elevated as a judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in December 2013 and was appointed the Chief Justice of the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court in April 2025.

Senior advocate Mohana has been practising in the Supreme Court and has handled several constitutional, civil and service matters before the apex court.

The appointments follow the Centre’s decision to increase the sanctioned strength of judges in the Supreme Court.

Last month, President Droupadi Murmu promulgated the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Ordinance, 2026, raising the sanctioned strength from 33 to 37 judges, excluding the Chief Justice of India (CJI), with a view to tackling mounting pendency and expediting the disposal of cases.

IANS