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Justices Indira Banerjee, Vineet Saran and K M Joseph were sworn in as judges of the Supreme Court in order of seniority notified by the Centre. The swearing-in ceremony started at 10.30 am in the CJI’s courtroom and Justice Banerjee was the first to take oath followed by justices Saran and Joseph.
The oath was administered to the three judges by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra in a packed courtroom in presence of all judges, law officers and advocates. With the appointment of the three judges, the total strength of the judges in the apex court has gone up to 25 against the sanctioned strength of 31.
While Justice Banerjee, was the chief justice of Madras High Court, justices Saran and Joseph were chief justices of Orissa and Uttarakhand high courts respectively.
Calling it a “black day”, senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal told ANI, “The government has given the message that if a judge doesn’t make a judgment in their favour, he may be treated the same. I believe that this day will be seen as a ‘black day’ in the history of Indian judiciary. This is the arrogance of the government.”
CJI Misra on Monday decided to consult the Attorney General on Justice Joseph’s seniority row after Supreme Court judges met him to express disappointment with the Centre altering the seniority of Justice Joseph for his appointment as an SC judge.
