The Supreme Court on Tuesday welcomed three new judges after Justice Sunita Agarwal, Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh took oath as judges of the apex court. With their appointment, the Supreme Court’s working strength has increased to 37.
Chief Justice of India Surya Kant administered the oath to the three judges at a ceremony held at 3.30 pm. The proceedings were also streamed live on the Supreme Court’s official YouTube channel.
Before their elevation, Justice Agarwal was serving as Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court, Justice Upadhyaya as Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court and Justice Singh as Chief Justice of the Telangana High Court.
The Supreme Court Collegium, headed by CJI Surya Kant, had recommended their elevation on September 28. The Union government approved the recommendations through the Ministry of Law on October 5, after which President Droupadi Murmu gave her assent to their appointments.
The Supreme Court now has 37 sitting judges against its sanctioned strength of 38, leaving one vacancy.
Three senior High Court judges elevated
The three newly appointed judges were among the senior-most High Court judges in the country. Justice Sunita Agarwal ranked fourth, Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya fifth and Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh sixth in the all-India seniority list of High Court judges.
Justice Agarwal’s elevation has also increased the number of sitting women judges in the Supreme Court to three. She joins Justice BV Nagarathna and Justice V Mohana on the apex court bench.
Justice Sunita Agarwal belongs to the Allahabad High Court, her parent court. She completed her law degree from Awadh University and enrolled as an advocate in December 1990. She primarily practised civil law at the Allahabad High Court before being elevated as an Additional Judge in November 2011. She became a permanent judge in August 2013 and was appointed Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court in July 2023.
Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya also belongs to the Allahabad High Court. He completed his law degree from Lucknow University in 1991 and enrolled as an advocate the same year. He mainly practised civil and constitutional matters at the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court.
Upadhyaya served as Chief Standing Counsel for the Uttar Pradesh government before being elevated to the Allahabad High Court in November 2011. He became a permanent judge in August 2013 and was later appointed Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court in July 2023. In January 2025, he took charge as Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court.
Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh, whose parent High Court is Jharkhand, completed his BA (Honours) and LLB from Delhi University and enrolled as an advocate in 1990. He initially 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 the Executive Chairman of the Jharkhand State Legal Services Authority.
Singh later served as Acting Chief Justice of the Jharkhand High Court before being appointed Chief Justice of the Tripura High Court in April 2023. He was subsequently transferred to the Telangana High Court and took oath as its Chief Justice in July 2025.
Supreme Court infrastructure expanded
The appointments come shortly after the Supreme Court expanded its courtroom infrastructure by adding two new courtrooms along with two Registrar courtrooms.
The three newly elevated judges will now be assigned to the apex court’s regular roster. Following their appointment, the Supreme Court is functioning with 37 judges, leaving just one vacancy against its sanctioned strength of 38.