5 new judges appointed to Supreme Court, working strength goes up to 28

The Supreme Court on Wednesday appointed 5 new judges to its panel taking its working strength to 28.

President Pranab Mukherjee has signed their Warrants of Appointment and the notifications will be issued shortly, sources in the government said here.

Those elevated to the apex court are five high court judges, including four chief justices of state high courts.

They are: Madras High Court Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Rajasthan HC Chief Justice Naveen Sinha, Kerala HC Chief Justice Mohan M Shantanagouder, Chhattisgarh HC Chief Justice Dipak Gupta and Karnataka HC judge S Abdul Nazeer.

The working strength of the Supreme Court has received a fillip with the fresh appointments. Though it has a sanctioned strength of 31, the top court is working with only 23 judges.

Chief Justice of India J S Khehar, Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose and Justice Prafulla Chandra Pant are retiring from the Supreme Court this year.