THE Supreme Court Collegium has recommended the names of eight judges and one senior advocate for elevation as judges of the top court. Of them, the Collegium, for the first time, has recommended the names of three women judges – Justice B V Nagarathna of the Karnataka High Court, Justice Hima Kohli, Chief Justice of the Telangana High Court and Justice Bela Trivedi of the Gujarat High Court.
The other judges are Justice AS Oka, Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court, Justice Vikram Nath and J K Maheshwari, the Chief Justices of the Gujarat and Sikkim High Courts respectively. Justice C T Ravikumar from the Kerala High Court and Justice MM Sundaresh from the Madras High Court have also been picked up by the Collegium.
From the Bar, former Additional Solicitor General P S Narasimha has been recommended for elevation.
The Collegium's recommendations have come within days of the retirement of Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman. The appointments to the apex court have been frozen since August 28, 2019.
Justice Nagarathna, if appointed to the Supreme Court, will be in line to become the first woman Chief Justice of India. She hails from the Karnataka High Court and was appointed as a judge there in 2008. If her name gets through, she will have tenure in the top court till 2027.
Justice Kohli hails from the Delhi High Court. She was appointed as a judge there in 2006. She was appointed as Chief Justice of the Telangana High Court on January 7, 2021. If appointed as judge of the top court, she will have tenure till 2024.
Justice Trivedi comes from the Gujarat High Court. She was appointed as a judge there in 2011. She will have tenure till 2025 in the top court if her name is cleared by the Centre.
Justice Oka hails from the Bombay High Court and is presently the Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court. He was appointed as a judge in Bombay High Court in 2002. If the Central Government clears his name he will have tenure in the Supreme Court till 2025.
Justice Nath is from the Allahabad High Court. He was appointed as a judge there in 2004. Currently, he holds the office of the Chief Justice at the Gujarat High Court. If his name is approved by the Central Government, he will have tenure till 2027 and will also make it to the CJI.
Justice Maheshwari comes from the Madhya Pradesh High Court. He was appointed as a judge there in 2005. He is currently the Chief Justice at the High Court of Sikkim. He will have tenure till 2026 in the Supreme Court if his name is cleared by the Centre.
Justice Ravikumar is the senior-most judge in the Kerala High Court. He was appointed there in 2009. He will have tenure till 2025.
Justice Sundaresh is the second senior-most judge at the Madras High Court. He was appointed there in 2009 and will have tenure till 2027 if appointed as a judge in the Supreme Court.
Senior advocate Narishma has appeared in several important cases, including the Ram Janmabhoomi case.