New Delhi: Gauhati High Court’s Chief Justice, Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia and Gujarat High Court judge, Justice Jamshed B. Pardiwala, who have been elevated to the Supreme Court, will be sworn in by Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana Monday.
On Saturday, the Central government notified their appointment as judges to the apex court – two days after the Supreme Court Collegium recommended their elevation.
After their appointment, the Supreme Court will function with a full sanctioned strength of 34 judges — after a gap of 30 months.
The Supreme Court collegium is headed by Chief Justice N.V. Ramana and comprises Justices U.U. Lalit, A.M. Khanwilkar, D.Y. Chandrachud, and L. Nageswara Rao.
In August 2021, the collegium had cleared a record nine names for appointments in the top court, which included Justice B.V. Nagarathna — from the Karnataka high court — who will become the country’s first woman Chief Justice in 2027.
The swearing-in ceremony will be held in the newly-built auditorium of the additional building complex of the Supreme Court on Monday morning.
Chief Justice Ramana would be creating a record by administering oath of office to 11 Supreme Court judges during his term.
The elevation of Justice Dhulia makes him the second judge to be elevated to the top court from the Uttarakhand High Court, and he is he sibling of national award-winning film director and actor Tigmanshu Dhulia.
Hailing from Madanpur, a remote village located in Pauri Garhwal district of Uttarakhand, he is an alumni of Sainik School, Lucknow, and completed his graduation and law degree from the Allahabad university.
A second generation legal professional, Justice Dhulia joined the Bar at Allahabad High Court in 1986 and shifted to his home state Uttarakhand on its formation in 2000.
He was the first Chief Standing Counsel in the Uttarakhand High Court and was later appointed an Additional Advocate General for Uttarakhand. He was designated as a senior advocate in 2004 and was elevated as the judge of Uttarakhand High Court in November 2008. Later, he became the Chief Justice of the High Court of Assam, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Arunachal Pradesh on January 10, 2021.
Justice Pardiwala was born on August 12, 1965, in Mumbai. He completed his schooling from St. Joseph Convent school in his home town Valsad in south Gujarat. He graduated from the J.P. Arts College, Valsad, and received a law degree from the K.M. Mulji Law College, Valsad, in 1988.
Starting to practice law in the Gujarat High Court in 1990, he was elected as a member of the Gujarat Bar Council in 1994. He was appointed as the Standing Counsel for the Gujarat High Court in 2002 and held the office till his elevation to the bench on February 17, 2011. Justice Pardiwala has nearly 1,012 reportable judgements on varied subjects.
