Four high court chief justices and senior advocate V Mohana were sworn in as judges of the Supreme Court on Tuesday, taking the apex court to near-full strength.
Chief Justice of India Surya Kant administered the oath of office to justices Sheel Nagu, Shree Chandrashekhar, Sanjeev Sachdeva, Arun Palli and senior advocate V Mohana at a ceremony held in the apex court.
The appointments were notified by the Union government on Monday, just four days after the Supreme Court collegium recommended their elevation.
With the swearing-in of the five new judges, the apex court's working strength has risen to 36 judges, excluding the CJI, leaving only one vacancy against the sanctioned strength of 37 judges.
The appointments reflect the collegium's attempt to balance regional representation, seniority, merit and gender diversity in the composition of the country's highest court.
Justice Sheel Nagu, who was serving as chief justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, began his judicial career in the Madhya Pradesh High Court and was elevated as a judge there in 2011.
Justice Shree Chandrashekhar was serving as chief justice of the Bombay High Court at the time of his elevation.
Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva, who was recently appointed chief justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court after a long tenure as a judge of the Delhi High Court, has dealt extensively with constitutional, commercial and criminal law disputes.
Justice Arun Palli, who headed the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, enrolled as an advocate in 1988 and practised primarily before the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
The appointment of senior advocate V Mohana is particularly significant as it increases the representation of women on the Supreme Court bench.
Mohana is a distinguished member of the Supreme Court Bar and only the second woman lawyer to be elevated directly from the Bar to the Supreme Court after justice Indu Malhotra in 2018.
