New Delhi, January 16: Amid speculations and disquiet among a section of judges of the apex court, President Ram Nath Kovind appointed Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Dinesh Maheshwari as judges of the Supreme Court of India on Wednesday. All these appointments will take effect from the date they charge of their offices.

With these appointments, the strength of the apex court reached 28, against the total strength of 31. This leaves three more vacant seats to be filled in the coming times. Supreme Court to Hear Next Week Plea Challenging Appointment of Nageswara Rao as Interim CBI Chief.

Earlier on January 10, the Collegium took into consideration the combined seniority on an all-India basis of Chief Justices and senior puisne judges of Karnataka High Court and Delhi High Court. It also dropped the names of two High Court Chief Justices picked for elevation to the apex court a month ago and recommended instead two new names.

The new collegium stopped the elevation of judges, recommendations by the Collegium of Supreme Court on December 12, which had recommended Chief Justice of Rajasthan High Court – Justice Pradeep Nandrajog and Chief Justice of Delhi High Court – Justice Rajendra Menon.

Later in the decision, the Collegium recommended Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court – Justice Dinesh Maheshwari and Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court – Justice Sanjiv Khanna.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 16, 2019 08:45 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).