NEW DELHI: The Centre on Wednesday cleared the names of judges Aniruddha Bose, A S Bopanna, B R Gavai and Surya Kant to be elevated to the Supreme Court.

With the appointment of these four judges, the SC will function with its full sanctioned strength of 31 judges, including the CJI. At present, it has 27 judges. 

The names of justices Bose (chief justice of Jharkhand HC) and Bopanna (chief justice of Guahati HC) were earlier returned by the government to the SC collegium citing seniority and representation of regions as the reasons.

However, the five-member collegium headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi reiterated its recommendation highlighting the judges’ competence, conduct and integrity.

It further recommended the names of judges Surya Kant (chief justice of Himachal Pradesh HC) and B R Gavai (judge at Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court). 

The Centre also cleared the appointment of Justice D N Patel as Chief Justice of Delhi High Court. He will succeed Justice Rajendra Menon, who retires on June 6.

Gavai, Kant in line to be CJIs

Justice B R Gavai, judge of the Bombay High Court is line to be sworn in as CJI in May 2025 — 15 years after KG Balakrishnan demitted office as India’s first Dalit CJI. Going by seniority, Justice Surya Kant, incumbent CJI of HP High Court will become CJI after Justice Gavai