Five new judges appointed to Supreme Court: Here's a look at each of their careers

Chief Justice of India Surya Kant swore in five new judges—Sheel Nagu, Shree Chandrashekhar, Sanjeev Sachdeva, Arun Palli, and V Mohana—on June 2, 2026, expanding the Supreme Court to 37 judges ahead of the retirements of Justices Pankaj Mithal (June 16) and J K Maheshwari (June 28). The appointments were finalized four days after the Supreme Court Collegium recommended their names on May 27. Justice Sheel Nagu, born in 1965, began his career as an advocate in 1987 and served as an additional judge of the Madhya Pradesh High Court before becoming its permanent judge in 2013. He later acted as chief justice of Madhya Pradesh and Punjab & Haryana High Courts and led a Supreme Court committee investigating cash allegations against former Delhi High Court judge Yashwant Varma. Shree Chandrashekhar, born in 1965, graduated from Delhi University’s Law Centre in 1993 and joined the Jharkhand High Court as an additional judge in 2013. He briefly served as acting chief justice of Jharkhand before being appointed chief justice of the Bombay High Court in September 2025. He also probed Justice Varma’s removal from the Lok Sabha committee. Sanjeev Sachdeva, born in 1964, practiced law in Delhi before becoming an additional judge of the Delhi High Court in 2013 and a permanent judge in 2015. Arun Palli, born in 1964, graduated from Panjab University and was designated a senior advocate in 2007 before joining the Punjab & Haryana High Court in 2013. He later became chief justice of the Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court in April 2025. V Mohana, a senior lawyer since 1988, was designated a senior advocate by the Supreme Court in 2015. Her appointment makes her one of two serving women judges, alongside Justice B V Nagarathna, who will become Chief Justice of India in September 2027. The new judges bring diverse high court backgrounds to the apex court.