Supreme Court gets first judge from Manipur as Centre clears 2 appointments

The collegium, led by CJI Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud, recommended their names on July 11, considering factors such as seniority, merit and judicial integrity. Other members of the collegium include justices Sanjiv Khanna, Bhushan R Gavai, Surya Kant and Hrishikesh Roy.

The central government on Tuesday notified the appointments of justices N Kotiswar Singh and R Mahadevan to the Supreme Court, following recommendations by the collegium. Justice Singh’s elevation marks a historic moment as he becomes the first judge from Manipur to be appointed to the apex court, more than 70 years after the country gained independence. With these appointments, the Supreme Court reaches its full sanctioned strength of 34 judges, including the Chief Justice of India.

Supreme Court gets first judge from Manipur as Centre clears 2 appointments

The collegium, led by CJI Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud, recommended their names on July 11, considering factors such as seniority, merit and judicial integrity. Other members of the collegium include justices Sanjiv Khanna, Bhushan R Gavai, Surya Kant and Hrishikesh Roy.

HT had on July 8 first reported about the collegium’s plan to finalise the names of two new judges to fill vacancies in the apex court, and that justices Singh and Mahadevan figured among the shortlisted names. With the recent retirements in April and May, the Supreme Court had been operating with 32 judges, two short of its sanctioned strength. Justice Hima Kohli’s impending retirement in September added urgency to the new appointments. The collegium’s timely recommendations and the central government’s quick approval have ensured the Supreme Court is now at full strength.

On justice Singh, the collegium’s resolution on July 11 stated: “His appointment as a judge of the Supreme Court will provide representation to the North-East, and in particular he will be the first judge from the state of Manipur to be appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court.”

Justice Singh was appointed as the chief justice of the Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh high court in February 2023. He started his judicial career as an additional judge of the Gauhati high court in October 2011. The resolution added that Justice Singh has “an impeccable record, both in judicial capacity and in terms of the work which has been rendered by him on the administrative side”.

Justice Mahadevan, appointed to the Madras high court in October 2013, belongs to a backward community from Tamil Nadu. The collegium on July 11 noted that his appointment would bring diversity to the bench.

The resolution explained why justice Mahadevan was preferred over two senior Madras high court judges: “The collegium has given precedence to the candidature of Mr Justice R Mahadevan in order to give representation to the backward community.”

Justices Singh and Mahadevan will be sworn in on July 18.

Justice PB Varale was the last appointment to the Supreme Court in January 2024, marking the first time the court had three judges from the Scheduled Caste category. In April 2023, Chief Justice Chandrachud announced the involvement of the Centre of Research and Planning (CRP), the court’s in-house think tank, in preparing a list of potential future appointments to the top court. The CRP assists the permanent secretariat in the Supreme Court, which deals with various aspects of judicial appointments, including the collection of information, preparation of records and presentation to the collegium.

On July 11, the collegium also recommended the appointment of new full-time chief justices to eight high courts, namely high courts of Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Madras and Meghalaya. However, their appointments are yet to be cleared by the Centre.

The Supreme Court collegium puts out some basic reasons which serve as a rationale for the appointments or transfers that they recommend, but the memorandum of procedure (MoP) – a guidebook of understanding between the Supreme Court collegium and the central government in these matters -- does not bind the central government to a timeline to respond and it can simply sit on the collegium’s recommendations.