Justices Satish Chandra Sharma, Augustine George Masih, Sandeep Mehta to become Judges of Supreme Court

Justices Satish Chandra Sharma, Augustine George Masih, Sandeep Mehta to become Judges of Supreme Court

After the Central government cleared their appointments, the Apex Court will now have 34 Judges

The Central Government has cleared the appointment of Justice Satish Chandra Sharma, Justice Augustine George Masih, and Justice Sandeep Mehta as Judges of the Supreme Court.

Justices Sharma, Masih, and Mehta are currently Chief Justices of the High Courts of Delhi, Rajasthan, and Guwahati.

While recommending their elevation, in its resolution, the Supreme Court Collegium stated that the factors used to assess the Judges were their seniority, merit, performance, integrity, diversity, and social background in terms of the parent High Courts.

The resolution noted that the top Court had a huge backlog of cases, which considerably increased the workload of the Judges and necessitated a Court having full strength.

While Justice Sharma's parent Court is the Madhya Pradesh High Court, Justice Masih, and Justice Mehta hail from the Punjab & Haryana High Court and Rajasthan High Court, respectively.

Justice Sharma was appointed the Madhya Pradesh High Court Judge on 18 January 2008. He was elevated as Chief Justice of the Telangana High Court on 11 October 2021 and on 28 June 2022, transferred to the Delhi High Court. He is second-placed in all-India seniority of High Court Judges and first in terms of Judges from the Madhya Pradesh High Court.

On Justice Sharma, the resolution stated, “The judgments authored by him dealing with issues in various branches of law stand testimony to his legal acumen and competence. Before his elevation as a Judge of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh, he practiced in constitutional, service, civil, and criminal matters."

Justice AG Masih was appointed Judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court on 10 July 2008. He was elevated as Chief Justice of the Rajasthan High Court on 30 May 2023. He is seventh in the all-India High Court Judges’ seniority list, and first among Judges from his parent High Court.

The Collegium noted, "During his long tenure as Judge of the High Court, Justice Masih acquired significant experience in diverse fields of law. Before his elevation, he practiced in constitutional, service, labor, and civil matters.”

Justice Mehta was appointed Judge of the Rajasthan High Court on 30 May 2011. He has been Chief Justice of the Guwahati High Court since 15 February 2023. He is 23rd in the all-India High Court Judges’ seniority list, and first among Judges from his parent High Court.

On Justice Mehta, the Collegium stated, "His parent, Rajasthan High Court, is a large Court, which does not have representation on the bench of the Supreme Court. Justice Mehta has served as a Judge for more than 12 years. He acquired significant adjudicatory experience. The judgments authored by him dealing with issues in various branches of law stand as testimony to his legal acumen and competence. He will provide a value addition in terms of his acquired knowledge and experience.”