Supreme Court Collegium Names New Members: Justice Gavai & Justice Surya Kant

Supreme Court Collegium Names New Members: Justice Gavai & Justice Surya Kant

The five-judge Supreme Court Collegium led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud has undergone a change after two senior judges Justices KM Joseph and Ajay Rastogi demitted office during the summer break.

Justices KM Joseph and Ajay Rastogi, who were part of the collegium, retired on June 16 and 17, respectively.

Justices BR Gavai and Surya Kant are the new members of the five-member collegium, which recommends to Centre names for appointment as judges of the Supreme Court.

Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Sanjiv Khanna are the other members of the collegium.

Moreover, Justices Khanna, Gavai and Kant are in line to be future CJIs. As per seniority, Justice Sanjiv Khanna is in line to succeed CJI DY Chandrachud as the Chief Justice of India in November 2024. Justices Gavai and Surya Kant are in line to be the successors of Justice Khanna.

The reconstituted collegium is entrusted with the task of filling the vacancies in the Supreme Court, which will be reduced to 31 against the sanctioned 34, with the retirement of Justice V Ramasubramanian on 29 June.

The recommendations for High Courts are given by a three-member collegium comprising the CJI and the next two senior judges.

Notably, Justice Sanjiv Khanna has become a member of the three-member collegium after the retirement of Justice KM Joseph.

Justice Kaul, the second senior member of the collegium, is set to retire on 25 December, 2023.

The Supreme Court is set to reopen on July 3 after the summer vacation.