Supreme Court set to achieve Full House with Three New Judges appointment

Justice Manjula Chellur, Justice K.M. Joseph and Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul are being considered by the Supreme Court Collegium for the elevation to the Supreme Court as a sitting judge as Justice F.M.I. Kalifulla, is due to retire on July 22 which would increase the strength of vacancies to 3.

The retirement of Justice Kalifulla will increase the judicial vacancies in the Supreme Court to three. The sanctioned strength is 31.

Justice K.M Joseph, Chief Justice Uttarakhand High Court, had led the Bench that quashed the President’s Rule in the State.

Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Chief Justice Madras High Court, his recent judgment championed the cause of freedom of expression.

Justice Manjula Chellur who the first woman Chief Justice Calcutta High Court. If Justice Chellur is appointed, she will be one of the two sitting Supreme Court judges along with Justice R. Banumathi.

The push to reach the sanctioned strength comes amid brewing storm between highest judiciary and the NDA Government as the finer details of the draft memorandum of procedure for appointment of judges followed  a Constitution Bench’s decision in October 2015 to strike down the National Judicial Appointment Commission (NJAC) laws to replace the 22-year-old Collegium system.