The President of India has appointed three serving High Court Chief Justices as judges of the Supreme Court of India. The appointments, notified by the Ministry of Law and Justice on 5 October 2026, followed the recommendation of the Supreme Court Collegium made on 28 September 2026. The three newly appointed judges are Justice Sunita Agarwal, Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh.
Justice Sunita Agarwal, who was serving as the Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court, has been elevated to the Supreme Court. Her parent High Court is the Allahabad High Court, where she was elevated as a judge in 2011 and became a permanent judge in 2013. She became Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court in July 2023. Her appointment also increases the number of women judges serving on the Supreme Court to three.
Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya, the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court, has also been appointed as a Supreme Court judge. He was elevated to the Allahabad High Court in 2011 and became a permanent judge in 2013. Before becoming Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court in January 2025, he served as Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court. His elevation adds another experienced former High Court Chief Justice to the Supreme Court Bench.
Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh, Chief Justice of the Telangana High Court, is the third judge elevated to the Supreme Court. He was elevated to the Jharkhand High Court in 2012 and subsequently served as Chief Justice of the Tripura High Court before becoming Chief Justice of the Telangana High Court in July 2025. His appointment completes the latest group of three High Court Chief Justices elevated to the apex court.
The appointments have increased the working strength of the Supreme Court from 34 to 37 judges. The sanctioned strength of the Supreme Court was recently increased from 34 to 38 judges, including the Chief Justice of India. Therefore, after these appointments, the apex court is only one judge short of its newly sanctioned strength.
Justice Sunita Agarwal, Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh took oath as Supreme Court judges on 6 October 2026. Chief Justice of India Surya Kant administered the oath of office. Their swearing-in formally completed their elevation to India’s highest judicial institution.
The appointment is important because the Supreme Court is the highest judicial authority in India and plays a central role in constitutional interpretation, protection of fundamental rights and resolution of major legal disputes. The increase in judicial strength is also expected to provide additional capacity to deal with the court’s substantial workload. For government-exam aspirants, the development is particularly relevant to questions on the Indian Constitution, judiciary, judicial appointments, the Collegium system and the structure of the Supreme Court.
The appointment of Supreme Court judges is an important topic under Indian Polity and Constitution sections of examinations such as UPSC, State PSC, SSC, banking and other government recruitment tests. Under Article 124 of the Constitution, judges of the Supreme Court are appointed by the President of India. The latest appointments therefore provide an important contemporary example for understanding the constitutional framework governing the higher judiciary.
The appointments also highlight the functioning of the Supreme Court Collegium. The Collegium recommended the elevation of the three Chief Justices on 28 September 2026, following which the Union Government notified their appointments on 5 October. Understanding this sequence is useful for examination questions concerning judicial appointments, separation of powers and the relationship between the judiciary and executive in India.
The working strength of the Supreme Court has risen to 37 after the three appointments, against a sanctioned strength of 38. This development is significant because Parliament recently increased the sanctioned strength of the apex court. Aspirants should remember both figures because numerical details relating to constitutional institutions are frequently tested in competitive examinations.
Justice Sunita Agarwal’s elevation has increased the number of women judges on the Supreme Court Bench to three. She joins Justice B.V. Nagarathna and Justice V. Mohana as the three women judges currently serving on the apex court. This makes her appointment particularly relevant for questions concerning women’s representation in India’s higher judiciary.
The appointments combine several important examination themes: constitutional provisions, the President’s powers, the Supreme Court Collegium, judicial appointments, High Courts, the Supreme Court’s sanctioned strength and women’s representation in the judiciary. Consequently, the news can be relevant for current-affairs sections as well as static Indian Polity questions in UPSC, PSCS, SSC, banking, railways, defence and other government examinations.
The Supreme Court of India came into existence on 28 January 1950, shortly after the Constitution came into force. Article 124 of the Constitution provides for the establishment and composition of the Supreme Court and lays down the constitutional framework for the appointment of its judges. The President formally appoints Supreme Court judges under this provision.
Although the Constitution provides for presidential appointment after consultation, the process of judicial appointments evolved considerably through a series of Supreme Court judgments. The Second Judges Case in 1993 and the Third Judges Case in 1998 established and clarified the present Collegium system, under which senior Supreme Court judges play the central role in recommending appointments and elevations to the higher judiciary.
The sanctioned strength of the Supreme Court has been increased several times as India’s population, litigation and judicial workload have expanded. In 2026, the sanctioned strength was increased from 34 to 38 judges, including the Chief Justice of India. The latest appointment of three High Court Chief Justices brings the working strength to 37, leaving only one vacancy against the new sanctioned capacity.
Women’s representation in the Supreme Court has historically remained limited. Justice Fathima Beevi became the first woman judge of the Supreme Court in 1989. The elevation of Justice Sunita Agarwal in 2026 is notable in the context of this longer history because it brings the current number of women judges on the Supreme Court to three.
The three judges are Justice Sunita Agarwal, Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh. They were serving as Chief Justices of the Gujarat, Delhi and Telangana High Courts, respectively.
Justice Sunita Agarwal was Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court, Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya was Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court, and Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh was Chief Justice of the Telangana High Court.
The Supreme Court Collegium recommended their elevation on 28 September 2026.
The Union Government notified their appointments on 5 October 2026. The appointments were made under Article 124(2) of the Constitution.
Justice Sunita Agarwal, Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh took oath on 6 October 2026, with Chief Justice of India Surya Kant administering the oath.
The appointments increased the Supreme Court’s working strength from 34 to 37 judges. The newly sanctioned strength is 38 judges, including the Chief Justice of India.
The number increased to three women judges. Justice Sunita Agarwal joins Justice B.V. Nagarathna and Justice V. Mohana on the Supreme Court Bench.
Article 124 of the Constitution deals with the establishment and composition of the Supreme Court and the appointment of its judges.
The President of India formally appoints judges of the Supreme Court under the constitutional framework. The latest appointments were notified by the Union Government on behalf of the President.
The Collegium system is the mechanism through which senior judges of the Supreme Court recommend appointments and transfers in the higher judiciary. It evolved through important Supreme Court judgments, particularly the Second Judges Case (1993) and Third Judges Case (1998).
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