Supreme Court strength reaches 37 as CJI Surya Kant swears in three new judges

Chief Justice of India Surya Kant administered the oath of office to three new judges on Tuesday, bringing the Supreme Court's working strength to 37—just one short of its sanctioned limit.

Justices Sunita Agarwal, Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya, and Aparesh Kumar Singh took their oaths in the auditorium of the new Supreme Court block in New Delhi. The appointments follow an announcement on Monday by Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal that the central government had cleared the names recommended by the Supreme Court Collegium on 28 September.

The additions follow the recent Supreme Court Amendment Act, 2026, which raised the court’s total sanctioned strength from 34 to 38 judges, including the Chief Justice.

High court representation and supersessions

While the appointments bring the top court closer to full capacity, they have renewed discussions about geographic diversity and the collegium's selection criteria.

With the elevation of Justices Agarwal and Upadhyaya, the Allahabad High Court now has four of its alumni serving on the Supreme Court bench, joining Justices Vikram Nath and Manoj Misra. This makes it the most represented parent high court in the country. In contrast, nine high courts have no representation on the Supreme Court bench at all: Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Orissa, Sikkim, Telangana, Tripura, and Uttarakhand.

The selection process has also bypassed traditional seniority. Justices Agarwal, Upadhyaya, and Singh held the fourth, fifth, and sixth positions respectively on the national seniority list of high court judges. By elevating them, the collegium effectively bypassed three other senior high court chief justices: Justices Harish Tandon, Soumen Sen, and GS Sandhawalia.

As has become typical under Chief Justice Surya Kant, the collegium's official statement offered no details on its reasoning, leaving observers in the dark about how factors like seniority, regional balance, or diversity were weighed.

Careers of the new appointees

The three new judges bring decades of judicial experience from various states:

• Justice Sunita Agarwal: Before her elevation, she served as the Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court. Born in 1966, she enrolled as an advocate in Uttar Pradesh in 1990 and practiced for 21 years before becoming a judge of the Allahabad High Court. Her appointment increases the number of women on the Supreme Court bench to three, alongside Justice B V Nagarathna and Justice Venkita Subramani Mohana.
• Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya: Upadhyaya was serving as the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court prior to this appointment, and before that, led the Bombay High Court. A 1991 graduate of Lucknow University, he previously served as the chief standing counsel for Uttar Pradesh before his elevation to the Allahabad High Court bench.
• Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh: Originally from the Jharkhand High Court, Singh was serving as the Chief Justice of the Telangana High Court before his elevation. He graduated from the University of Delhi, enrolled as an advocate in Patna in 1990, and has previously served as the Chief Justice of the Tripura High Court.