india

Updated: Apr 12, 2019 21:53 IST

The Supreme Court collegium on Friday recommended the elevation of Justice Aniruddha Bose, Chief Justice of Jharkhand High Court and Justice AS Bopanna, Chief Justice of Gauhati High Court as judges of the Supreme Court.

The two new appointments has now taken up the number of judges in the Supreme Court from 27 to 29.

The apex court has a sanctioned strength of 31 judges.

According to a resolution signed by the top five judges of the Supreme Court and published on its website, the Supreme Court collegium took into account merit, seniority and representation to high courts.

“While recommending the names of Mr Justices Aniruddha Bose and AS Bopanna, the Collegium has taken into consideration, apart from their merit and integrity, combined seniority on all-India basis of Chief Justices and senior puisne Judges of High Courts. The Collegium has also kept in mind the desirability of giving due representation on the Bench of the Supreme Court, as far as possible, to all the High Courts,” reads the supreme court collegium.

Justice Aniruddha Bose was appointed as a Judge of the Calcutta High Court on January 19, 2004, and was elevated as Chief Justice of Jharkhand High Court on August 11, 2018. Justice Bose stands at number 12 in the combined seniority of High Court Judges on all India basis.

Justice AS Bopanna was appointed as a Judge of the Karnataka High Court in 2006 and was elevated as Chief Justice of Gauhati High Court in 2018. Justice Bopanna stands at number 36 in the combined seniority of High Court Judges on all India basis.

This is the second time in the recent past that the Supreme court collegium - responsible for appointments to the apex court- has given the seniority principle a go-by while making appointments to the top court.

Earlier, on January 10, Justice Sanjiv Khanna who stood at number 33 in all india seniority was appointed as a Supreme Court judge. The appointment had stirred a controversy at that time.

Then the Bar Council of India and the Delhi Bar Association had issued strongly worded statements suggesting that the collegium’s recommendation went against the seniority principle.