New Delhi: The government today assured the Supreme Court that the collegium's recommendations for the appointment of five judges will be cleared soon. The collegium had in December recommended the names of three high court chief justices and two judges for elevation to the Supreme Court.
Once the five take oath as judges of the Supreme Court, its working strength will go up to 32.
The sanctioned strength of the top court is 34, including the Chief Justice of India. Its present working strength is 27.
The court was today hearing a petition regarding the delay in the appointment of judges. The government said that it would soon clear the elevation of five judges which had been recommended by the collegium.
Attorney General R Venkataramani told a bench of Justices S K Kaul and A S Oka that warrant of appointment of these five names is expected to be issued soon.
The bench expressed displeasure over the delay by the Centre in clearing recommendations for the transfer of high court judges, saying "it is a very, very serious issue".
"Don't make us take a stand which will be very uncomfortable," the bench observed.
The Supreme Court Collegium had recommended five names to the government on December 13 - Justice Pankaj Mithal, Chief Justice, Rajasthan High Court; Justice Sanjay Karol, Chief Justice, Patna High Court; Justice P V Sanjay Kumar, Chief Justice, Manipur High Court; Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah of Patna High Court; and Justice Manoj Misra of Allahabad High Court.