The Supreme Court got its full strength of 31 judges on Monday, with the swearing-in of Justices Rajesh Kumar Agrawal and Nuthalapati Venkata Ramana by Chief Justice of India P. Sathasivam.
Justice Agrawal, 60, was the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court.
He will have a tenure of five years. He will be the second judge to represent the Allahabad High Court, after Justice Chauhan (till July).
Justice Ramana, who will have a tenure of nine years, was the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court.
He has the chance to become the Chief Justice of India in 2021, after the superannuation of Justice S.A. Bobde.
The CJI has written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, requesting that the strength of judges in the High Courts be increased by 25 per cent and infrastructure provided to these courts.
Pointing out that the post-retiral benefits of judges were fixed in 1991, the CJI wanted the allowance of Rs. 14,000 paid to retired judges and Rs. 25,000 paid to the retired CJIs doubled.
