Justice Ashok Kumar Ganguly, Justice R M Lodha and Justice H L Dattu were on Wednesday sworn in as judges of the Supreme Court. Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan administered the oath at a simple ceremony in his court. With these appointments, the number of judges in the apex court has gone up to 24, which is still two short of the sanctioned strength. The elevation of justices Ganguly, Lodha and Dattu — chief justices of Madras, Patna and Kerala high courts, respectively — as judges of the apex court had invited controversy as the Government had asked the Collegium (headed by the CJI) to reconsider its decision. Citing seniority, the Centre had suggested the inclusion of names of chief justices of Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Uttarakhand high courts — Chief Justice A P Shah, Chief Justice A K Patnaik and Chief Justice V K Gupta, respectively.But the Collegium, which also comprised five senior-most judges of the Supreme Court, stood its ground saying that the names had already been recommended. The CJI, during a public function, had said seniority was only one among several criteria for promoting judges to the apex court and stressed the importance of merit.
