Indu Malhotra sworn in as SC judge

Senior lawyer Indu Malhotra was sworn in on Friday as Supreme Court judge becoming the first woman to be elevated directly to the apex court directly from the bar.

She was administered the oath of office by Chief Justice Dipak Misra and will have a tenure of a little over three years.

She took the oath amids raging controversy over the Narendra Modi government returning the the recommendation on Justice K.M. Joseph, whose name the Supreme Court collegium had recommended with that of Malhotra. On Thursday, the court had rejected a plea for blocking her appointment because the government had returned Joseph's recommendation.

With her swearing-in, the strength of the top court judges rose to 25 -- six still short of the actual sanctioned strength of 31.

As is customary, Justice Malhotra had her first day in the top court sitting with Chief Justice Misra and Justice D.Y.Chandrachud in the court number one.

It is for the second time that the apex court has two women judges -- the other being Justice R. Banumathi. Justice Malhotra is the seventh woman judge of the top court.

Prior to this Justice Gyan Sudha Misra and Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai were together as judges of the top court.

Justice M. Fatima Beevi was the first woman judge of the Supreme Court. She was followed by Justice Sujata V. Manohar, Justice Ruma Pal, Justice Misra, Justice Desai and Justice Banumathi.

--IANS

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