The Supreme Court collegium on Wednesday recommended the elevation of four high court chief justices and senior advocate V Mohana as judges of the apex court, setting the stage for one of the most significant rounds of appointments to the top court in recent years following the expansion of its sanctioned strength.
In a resolution passed by the collegium led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, the names recommended for appointment as judges of the Supreme Court are justices Sheel Nagu, Shree Chandrashekhar, Sanjeev Sachdeva, Arun Palli and senior advocate Mohana.
The recommendations will now be forwarded to the Union government for approval and issuance of warrants of appointment by the President.
The present round of appointments comes at a crucial juncture for the apex court, which is not only adjusting to its expanded strength but is also facing a series of impending retirements.
Justice Pankaj Mithal is due to retire on June 6, followed by Justice J K Maheshwari on June 28, Justice Sanjay Karol on August 28 and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma on November 29. The recommendations are therefore expected to stabilise the court’s working strength during the tenure of CJI Surya Kant, who himself demits office in February 2027.
The move comes days after the Union government formally increased the sanctioned strength of the Supreme Court from 33 to 37 judges, excluding the CJI, through the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Ordinance, 2026.
The May 16-move was aimed at addressing mounting pendency, which has crossed 92,000 cases, and facilitating regular constitution benches.
With the latest recommendations, the collegium, also comprising justices Vikram Nath, JK Maheshwari, BV Nagarathna and MM Sundresh, has sought to balance regional representation, judicial seniority, merit and gender diversity in the composition of the apex court.
Among the recommended judges, justice Sheel Nagu currently heads the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Originally from the Madhya Pradesh high court, he was elevated as a judge there in 2011 before being appointed chief justice of the Punjab and Haryana high court in 2024. He is known for his work in constitutional, service and administrative law matters.
Justice Shree Chandrashekhar, presently the chief justice of the Bombay high court, began his judicial career in the Jharkhand high court and was elevated as a judge there in 2013. He took over as chief justice of the Bombay high court last year after serving as acting chief justice of the Jharkhand high court.
Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva, who was originally a judge of the Delhi high court and recently appointed chief justice of the Madhya Pradesh high court, has handled several important constitutional, commercial and criminal law matters during his tenure on the bench. Before his elevation as a judge in 2013, he had extensive practice before the Delhi high court and the Supreme Court.
Justice Arun Palli, who presently heads the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh high court, began practice at the Punjab and Haryana high court in 1988 and was designated senior advocate in 2007. Elevated as a judge in 2013, he dealt with constitutional, labour, civil and criminal matters before being appointed chief justice last year.
The recommendation of senior advocate V Mohana assumes particular significance as it would add another woman judge to the Supreme Court, which currently has only one woman judge — Justice BV Nagarathna.
A leading member of the Supreme Court Bar, Mohana graduated from Coimbatore Law College in 1988 as part of the institution’s first five-year law course batch. She initially trained under advocate M Panchapakesan before moving to New Delhi, where she worked with former Supreme Court judge Justice Indu Malhotra and senior advocate CS Vaidyanathan.
After clearing the Advocate-on-Record examination in 1996, Mohana began independent practice in the Supreme Court, Delhi high court and other forums, including the National Consumer Commission. Over the years, she appeared alongside several leading legal luminaries including Kapil Sibal, KK Venugopal, P Chidambaram, Arun Jaitley and TR Andhyarujina. She was designated as a senior advocate by the full court of the Supreme Court in April 2015 and has also served as a panel lawyer for the Union government.
