Justices Agarwal, Upadhyaya, Singh take oath as Supreme Court judges

Justices Sunita Agarwal, Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya, and Aparesh Kumar Singh were sworn in as Supreme Court judges. Their elevation, recommended by the SC Collegium, raises the court's working strength to 37, with one vacancy remaining.

Three judges who had been serving as Chief Justices of three different High Courts, Justice Sunita Agarwal, Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh, took the oath as judges of the Supreme Court on Tuesday. Justice Agarwal was Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court, Justice Upadhyaya was Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court and Justice Singh was Chief Justice of the Telangana High Court before their elevation.

New Appointments and Court Strength

Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant administered the oath to the three judges at a ceremony held at 3.30 pm. The ceremony was also live-streamed by the Supreme Court on its official YouTube channel.

The Supreme Court Collegium, headed by CJI Surya Kant, had recommended their elevation on September 28. The Central government, through the Ministry of Law, cleared the recommendations on October 5, following which President Droupadi Murmu approved their appointments as judges of the apex court.

With the three elevations, the Supreme Court’s working strength has risen to 37 judges, including the CJI, against a sanctioned strength of 38. The three judges were among the senior-most High Court judges in the country. Justice Agarwal ranked fourth, Justice Upadhyaya fifth and Justice Singh sixth in the all-India seniority of High Court judges.

Justice Agarwal’s elevation also takes the number of sitting women judges in the Supreme Court to three. She joins Justice BV Nagarathna and Justice V Mohana, who was the most recent woman judge to be elevated to the apex court before Agarwal. Justice Mohana was elevated on June 2, while Justice Nagarathna joined the Supreme Court in August 2021.

Profiles of the New Judges

Justice Sunita Agarwal

Justice Sunita Agarwal was the Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court before her elevation. Her parent High Court is Allahabad. She graduated in law from Awadh University and enrolled as an advocate in December 1990. She practised mainly on the civil side of the Allahabad High Court. She was elevated as an Additional Judge of the Allahabad High Court in November 2011 and became a permanent judge in August 2013. She was appointed Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court in July 2023.

Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya

Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya was Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court before his elevation. His parent High Court is Allahabad. He completed his law degree from Lucknow University in 1991 and enrolled as an advocate in May that year. He practised mainly on the civil and constitutional sides at the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court. He served as Chief Standing Counsel for the Uttar Pradesh government before being elevated as a judge of the Allahabad High Court in November 2011. He became a permanent judge in August 2013. He was appointed Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court in July 2023 and later became Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court in January 2025.

Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh

Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh was Chief Justice of the Telangana High Court before his elevation. His parent High Court is Jharkhand. He completed his BA (Honours) and LLB from Delhi University and enrolled as an advocate in 1990. He practised at the Patna High Court before moving to the Jharkhand High Court. He was elevated as an Additional Judge of the Jharkhand High Court in January 2012 and became a permanent judge in January 2014. He also served as Executive Chairman of the Jharkhand State Legal Services Authority. He later served as Acting Chief Justice of the Jharkhand High Court and became Chief Justice of the Tripura High Court in April 2023. He was subsequently transferred to the Telangana High Court, where he took oath as Chief Justice in July 2025.

The appointments come shortly after the Supreme Court expanded its courtroom infrastructure with the addition of two new courtrooms and two Registrar courtrooms. The three new judges will now join the Supreme Court’s regular roster, leaving one vacancy in the Court’s sanctioned strength. (ANI)

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