Centre clears appointment of Justices Satish Chandra Sharma, Augustine George Masih and Sandeep Mehta as Supreme Court judges

The Central government has cleared the appointment of Justices Satish Chandra Sharma, Augustine George Masih and Sandeep Mehta as judges of the Supreme Court..The three judges will take oath tomorrow. With their appointments, the strength of the Supreme Court will rise to its full capacity of 34 judges..Justices Sharma, Masih and Mehta are currently Chief Justices of the High Courts of Delhi, Rajasthan and Gauhati.Justice Sharma's parent High Court is the Madhya Pradesh High Court, while Justices Masih and Mehta hail from the Punjab & Haryana and Rajasthan High Courts respectively..While recommending the elevation of the three judges, the Supreme Court Collegium stated in its resolution that the factors used to assess the judges under consideration were their seniority, merit, performance, integrity, diversity in terms of parent High Courts, social background etc.The resolution notes that the Supreme Court has a huge backlog of cases, which has increased the workload of judges considerably and necessitated a full-strength court..Justice Satish Chandra Sharma was appointed judge of the Madhya Pradesh High Court on January 18, 2008. He was elevated as Chief Justice of the High Court for the State of Telangana on October 11, 2021 and thereafter transferred to High Court of Delhi on June 28, 2022.He has been the Chief Justice for over two years. The resolution states:"The judgments authored by him dealing with issues in various branches of law stand testimony to his legal acumen and competence. Before his elevation as a Judge of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh, he practised in constitutional, service, civil and criminal matters."Justice Sharma is second-placed in all-India seniority of High Court judges, and first in terms of judges from the Madhya Pradesh High Court..Justice AG Masih was appointed judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court on July 10, 2008. He was elevated as Chief Justice of the Rajasthan High Court on May 30, 2023."During his long tenure as a judge of the High Court Justice Masih has acquired significant experience in diverse fields of law. Before his elevation, he practised in Constitutional, service, labour, and civil matters", the Collegium notes.He is seventh in the all-India High Court judges seniority list, and first among judges from his parent High Court..Justice Mehta was appointed judge of the Rajasthan High Court on May 30, 2011. He has been Chief Justice of the Gauhati High Court since February 15 this year."The Rajasthan High Court which is his parent High Court is a large High Court which does not have representation on the Bench of the Supreme Court. Mr Justice Mehta has served as a judge of the High Court for more than 12 years ... has acquired significant adjudicatory experience ... The judgments authored by him dealing with issues in various branches of law stand testimony to his legal acumen and competence ... will provide a value addition in terms of his acquired knowledge and experience.", the Collegium notes.He is 23rd in the all-India High Court judges seniority list, and first among judges from his parent High Court.