Delhi High Court strength rises to 50 as seven new judges take oath

The Delhi High Court’s working strength rose to 50 on Monday after seven judicial officers were sworn in as judges. The court now has 50 judges against a sanctioned strength of 60.

Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya administered the oath to Nivedita Anil Sharma, Nisha Sahay Saxena, Sanjay Sharma-I, Bharat Parashar, Dr Aditi Choudhary, Dinesh Bhatt and Arun Bhardwaj.

Two appointed permanent judges

Nivedita Anil Sharma and Nisha Sahay Saxena have been appointed as permanent judges of the Delhi High Court.

The remaining five—Sanjay Sharma-I, Bharat Parashar, Dr Aditi Choudhary, Dinesh Bhatt and Arun Bhardwaj—have joined the court as additional judges.

Their appointments were notified by the Centre on Saturday, following the Supreme Court collegium’s recommendation of eight judicial officers for elevation on September 10.

However, the Centre cleared seven of the names and withheld approval for Gurvinder Pal Singh. The appointments were announced through a notification posted on X by Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal.

Judicial officers elevated from key posts

Several of the newly appointed judges were holding senior judicial or administrative positions before their elevation.

Bhardwaj was serving as the Registrar General of the Delhi High Court, while Parashar was the Secretary General of the Supreme Court.

Saxena was the Principal District and Sessions Judge of the Rohini North-West District. Sanjay Sharma-I was serving as the Principal District and Sessions Judge of the Karkardooma North-East District.

Bhatt was the Principal District Judge-cum-Special Judge under the Prevention of Corruption Act at the Rouse Avenue Courts.

Two had already retired

Nivedita Anil Sharma and Dr Aditi Choudhary had retired before taking oath as judges of the High Court.

According to people familiar with the development, Sharma and Choudhary, along with Gurvinder Pal Singh, had earlier been recommended by the Delhi High Court collegium for elevation.

With seven new appointments, the Delhi High Court now has 50 judges, leaving 10 positions vacant against its sanctioned strength of 60.