8 days after they were recommended, Sanjiv Khanna, Dinesh Maheshwari JJ. to be sworn in as SC judges tomorrow

Eight days after the Collegium recommended their names for elevation to the Supreme Court, Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dinesh Maheshwari will be sworn in as Supreme Court judges tomorrow..The swearing-in will take place in the court of the Chief Justice of India at 10.30 am..The Collegium had recommended their names for elevation to the Supreme Court on January 10. Acting with unusual speed, the Central government had cleared their names and notified the appointments yesterday..The two recommendations by the Collegium had invited a lot of controversy. While Justice Sanjiv Khanna was 33rd in the combined seniority of High Court Judges on an all-India basis, Justice Dinesh Maheshwari had been superseded by Justice Ajay Rastogi once..Further, Justices Maheshwari and Khanna were not in the zone of consideration in the last few months. Rather, the names that were doing the rounds included current Delhi High Court Chief Justice Rajendra Menon, Rajasthan High Court Chief Justice Pradeep Nandrajog, Jammu & Kashmir Chief Justice Gita Mittal, and Delhi High Court judge, Justice S Ravindra Bhat..In fact, there were strong indications that the Collegium had decided on December 12 last year to elevate Justices Menon and Nandrajog to the Supreme Court..The Collegium resolution elevating Justices Khanna and Maheshwari also mentioned that some decisions were taken on December 12 last year, but the same could not be taken to its conclusion as the winter vacation intervened. Subsequently, when the Collegium met again after the court re-opened, it decided to have a fresh look at the matter..This had caused considerable debate both at the Bar and the Bench. Sitting Supreme Court judge, Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul had written to Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi objecting to the two recommendations, while retired Delhi High Court judge, Justice Kailash Gambhir had written to the President of India urging him to prevent what he termed as a “historical blunder”..With the two new appointments, the Supreme Court will now have 28 judges as against the sanctioned strength of 31..Read the circular regarding swearing-in of the two judges:.Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.