New Delhi: The Supreme Court will get three new judges following the appointment of Gujarat High Court Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal, Delhi High Court Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Telangana High Court Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh to the apex court.
The appointments were notified on Monday, October 5, after the Supreme Court Collegium recommended the three names on September 28. Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal announced the appointments on social media, while the Law Ministry notification confirmed that the appointments will take effect from the date the judges assume charge.
The three appointments will take the Supreme Court’s working strength from the current 34 judges to 37 once the new judges formally take oath. The apex court’s sanctioned strength is 38 judges, including the Chief Justice of India, leaving one vacancy after the three appointments take effect.
Three High Court chief justices elevated
Justice Sunita Agarwal, currently Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court, has been appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court. She has the Allahabad High Court as her parent High Court.
Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya, Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court, has also been elevated. He too belongs to the Allahabad High Court as his parent High Court.
Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh, Chief Justice of the Telangana High Court, is the third judge to be appointed. His parent High Court is Jharkhand.
The President of India appointed the three judges in exercise of the constitutional powers relating to appointments to the Supreme Court. The official notification confirmed the elevation of all three High Court chief justices.
Their elevation comes less than a week after the Collegium recommended their names. The five-member Collegium, headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, had selected the three chief justices during its September 28 meeting.
Supreme Court strength to rise to 37
The Supreme Court currently has 34 serving judges, including the Chief Justice of India. With the three new appointments, its effective working strength will rise to 37 after they take oath and assume office.
The court has a sanctioned strength of 38 judges, including the CJI. This means the latest appointments will leave only one position vacant.
The increase in strength is significant for the functioning of the country’s highest court, which handles a large volume of constitutional matters, civil and criminal appeals, public-interest litigation and other cases.
The three appointments therefore fill a substantial portion of the available vacancies and strengthen the bench as the Supreme Court enters another busy phase of its judicial calendar.
Sanctioned strength was recently increased
The Supreme Court’s sanctioned strength was increased earlier this year.
In May, the Union Cabinet approved a proposal to increase the number of Supreme Court judges by four, from 33 to 37 excluding the Chief Justice of India. The change meant that the total sanctioned strength, including the CJI, would rise to 38.
The increase was intended to help the apex court deal with its workload and improve the efficiency of judicial functioning.
The expansion followed the passage of the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment legislation in 2026, which provided for the higher sanctioned strength.
With the latest appointments, the court is now close to reaching the newly approved strength.
Justice Sunita Agarwal joins the apex court
Justice Sunita Agarwal’s elevation is particularly notable because she moves to the Supreme Court after serving as Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court.
She has had a long judicial career associated with the Allahabad High Court, her parent High Court. She was appointed Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court in 2023.
Her elevation comes as part of a broader effort by the Collegium to bring experienced High Court chief justices to the apex court.
The appointment also adds to the representation of women on the Supreme Court, although the overall number of women judges in the apex court remains relatively small compared with men.
Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya elevated from Delhi High Court
Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya, who was serving as Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court, is another senior judicial figure to move to the Supreme Court.
Upadhyaya’s parent High Court is Allahabad, and his elevation alongside Justice Agarwal marks the appointment of two judges with the same parent High Court.
His move to the apex court will also lead to a vacancy in the office of Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court, which will eventually have to be filled through the judicial appointment process.
The elevation is part of the Collegium’s effort to strengthen the Supreme Court with judges who have extensive experience in High Court administration and adjudication.
Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh also elevated
Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh, the Chief Justice of the Telangana High Court, completes the latest set of appointments.
Singh has served in different judicial capacities and has the Jharkhand High Court as his parent High Court. His elevation brings another experienced High Court chief justice to the Supreme Court.
His appointment will similarly create a vacancy at the top of the Telangana High Court, which will require a fresh appointment to the post of Chief Justice.
The three appointments will therefore have an impact beyond the Supreme Court, with Gujarat, Delhi and Telangana also requiring new leadership at their respective High Courts. The process for appointing new chief justices to the three High Courts is expected to follow.
Collegium recommendation followed by government approval
The appointments followed the established process in which the Supreme Court Collegium recommends candidates for elevation to the apex court, after which the Union government processes the recommendations and the President formally makes the appointments.
The Collegium’s recommendation of the three judges was made on September 28.
The government subsequently cleared the recommendations, leading to Monday’s official appointment notification.
The Law Ministry said the appointments would take effect from the date on which the judges assume charge of their offices. Therefore, while the appointment has been notified, the Supreme Court’s working strength will formally increase to 37 once the three judges take oath.
One vacancy remains in the Supreme Court
Once Justices Sunita Agarwal, Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Aparesh Kumar Singh take oath, the Supreme Court will have 37 working judges against its sanctioned strength of 38.
This leaves one vacancy in the apex court.
The appointments are expected to provide additional judicial capacity at a time when the Supreme Court continues to deal with cases across constitutional, commercial, civil, criminal and other areas of law.
For the three newly elevated judges, the move marks a transition from leading major High Courts to serving on the country’s highest judicial forum.
The appointments also set in motion changes at the Gujarat, Delhi and Telangana High Courts, where new chief justices will eventually be appointed.
New appointments strengthen apex court
The elevation of Justices Sunita Agarwal, Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Aparesh Kumar Singh brings the Supreme Court close to its newly sanctioned strength.
The court will have 37 working judges once the three formally assume office, leaving just one vacancy against the sanctioned strength of 38.
The appointments come after a swift process from Collegium recommendation on September 28 to government notification on October 5. They are expected to add further judicial capacity to the apex court while triggering the next round of appointments for the three High Courts headed by the newly elevated judges.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by News Karnataka staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)