SC Collegium Gets 2 New Members After Retirement of Senior Judges Joseph & Rastogi

GG News Bureau

New Delhi, 30th June. The five-judge collegium chaired by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud has changed with the inclusion of Justices BR Gavai and Surya Kant, after two senior justices retired during the summer break.

Justices KM Joseph and Ajay Rastogi retired from the collegium on June 16 and 17, respectively.

In addition to the CJI, the revised collegium now includes Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai, and Surya Kant.

Interestingly, three members of the reconstituted collegium-Justice Khanna, Justice Gavai, and Justice Surya Kant-will eventually become the Chief Justice of India.

The reformed collegium will be tasked with filling the Supreme Court vacancies, which would be reduced to 31 from the sanctioned 34 following the retirement of Justice V Ramasubramanian on Thursday.

The number of judges on the Supreme Court will be reduced to 30 in the first week following the summer break, with Justice Krishna Murari due to demit office on July 8.

The Supreme Court is set to reopen on July 3 after the summer vacation.

The membership of the three-member collegium, which proposes names for the appointment of judges to high courts, has also changed, with Justice Khanna replacing Justice Joseph. The group, which is chaired by CJI Chandrachud, also includes Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul.