Three new judges will be inducted to the Supreme Court on Tuesday. President Pratibha Patil’s office has cleared the decks for elevation of Justice J.S. Khehar (pictured), Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court; Justice Ranjana Desai of Bombay High Court  and S.J. Mukhopadhaya, Chief Justice of Gujarat High Court. The Supreme Court Collegium has recommended for the elevation of Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court Deepak Misra and Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court Jasti Chelameswar as Supreme Court judges, taking the total tally to five new judges.

It is pertinent to note that Justice Khehar is pipped to become the first Sikh Chief Justice of India in the year 2017. When Justice T.S. Thankur retires, Justice Khehar will become the Chief Justice on January 4, 2017. After graduating in science from Government College, Chandigarh in 1974, Justice Khehar graduated in law from the Punjab University, Chandigarh in 1977. He then did his Masters in Law from the same University in 1979. He secured a gold medal for having stood first in the University’s LL.M. examination. He was appointed as Additional Advocate General, Punjab, in January 1992, and then as Senior Standing Counsel, Union Territory, Chandigarh. He was designated as Senior Advocate in February, 1995.

Justice Khehar appeared as counsel for M. Krishnaswamy, M.P., in the defence of Justice V. Ramaswami, then Judge of the Supreme Court of India, before the Judges Inquiry Committee constituted to investigate the grounds on which the removal of Justice V. Ramaswami was sought.

On February 8, 1999 he was elevated to the Bench of High Court of Punjab and Haryana, at Chandigarh. Further he was elevated as Chief Justice of the High Court of Uttarakhand, at Nainital, on November 29, 2009 and thereafter he was transferred as Chief Justice of High Court of Karnataka. Justice Khehar was also a member of the Judges Inquiry Committee for investigating the grounds on which the removal of Justice P.D. Dinakaran, Chief Justice of the Sikkim High Court was sought. 

Justice S.J. Mukhopadhaya obtained his LL.B. Degree in 1979 from Patna University. He enrolled as an Advocate on May 18, 1979 and practised at Patna and Ranchi Bench of Patna High Court in Constitutional, Service, Civil and Criminal matters. He was designated as Senior Advocate in February, 1993. Later in 1994 he was appointed as a Permanent Judge of the Patna High Court. Later he was transferred as a Judge of the Jharkhand High Court and then to Madras High Court. Justice S.J.Mukhopadhaya assumed charge as the Chief Justice of High Court of Gujarat on December 9, 2009.

The Hindu reports, "With the Law Ministry receiving the recommendations of the Supreme Court Collegium for the elevation of Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court Deepak Misra and Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court Jasti Chelameswar as Supreme Court Judges, the court will get two more judges.

Justice B. Bhattacharya of the Calcutta High Court has been appointed Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court to succeed Justice S.J. Mukhopadhaya. Justice Vikramajit Sen of the Delhi High Court has been appointed Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court to succeed Justice Khehar. Justice A.K. Goel of the Punjab and Haryana High Court is being made the Chief Justice of the Gauhati High Court, with the incumbent Madan Bhimarao Lokur being shifted to the Andhra Pradesh High Court."

Bar & Bench has earlier reported the elevation of these three judges to the Supreme Court.

At present the sanctioned strength of Supreme Court is, 31 judges including the CJI. 26 judges are holding the posts now but four more are scheduled to retire by October 15. Still there will be vacancies after these appointments.