New Delhi: With the Supreme Court Collegium finally having its way overlooking Centre's reservations, Asok Kumar Ganguly, R M Lodha and H L Dattu were on Wednesday sworn in as judges of the Supreme Court.
Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan administered the oath to them at a simple ceremony in his court. With this, the number of judges in the apex court has risen to 24 against the sanctioned strength of 26.
The elevation of Ganguly, Lodha and Dattu--Chief Justices of Kerala, Madras and Patna High Courts as judges of the Supreme Court, was mired in controversy as the Centre had asked the Collegium headed by the CJI to reconsider the decision, taking into account the seniority of three other
Chief Justices of High Courts.
The Centre had pointed out that the collegium overlooked the case of their seniors, Delhi HC Chief Justice A P Shah, Madhya Pradesh HC Chief Justice A K Patnaik and Uttarakhand HC Chief Justice V K Gupta, for appointment to the
apex court.
However, the Collegium, comprising five senior most judges of the apex court, refused to reconsider the decision and persisted with the names already recommended by them.
With no option left, the names were forwarded by the Centre to President Pratibha Patil who approved their appointments.
The CJI had contended that seniority was only one among several criteria for promoting judges to the top court and stressed the importance of merit.
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