Supreme Court gets 3 new judges; Justice Sunita Agarwal becomes 3rd woman judge

New Delhi: The Centre on Monday notified the appointment of Justice Sunita Agarwal, Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh as Supreme Court judges.

The appointments follow the Supreme Court Collegium's recommendation on September 28. Once the three judges take oath, the apex court will have 37 serving judges, one short of its sanctioned strength of 38.

The sanctioned strength was recently increased from 34 to 38 under the Supreme Court Amendment Act, 2026.

Third woman judge joins Supreme Court

Justice Sunita Agarwal's elevation takes the number of women judges currently serving on the Supreme Court to three.

She joins Justice B V Nagarathna and Justice Venkita Subramani Mohana on the Bench. Justice Nagarathna is also set to become Chief Justice of India in 2027 for a short tenure.

Justice Sunita Agarwal served as Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court and was earlier a judge of the Allahabad High Court.

Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya, Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court, previously headed the Bombay High Court and served on the Allahabad High Court.

Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh, Chief Justice of the Telangana High Court, has served in the Jharkhand and Tripura High Courts before heading the Telangana High Court.

The appointments bring the court close to its full sanctioned strength and add judges with experience from several High Courts.

The effective strength will rise from 34 to 37 once the three judges formally take oath, leaving only one vacancy.