New Delhi, August 3: Justice Indira Banerjee, Chief Justice of Madras High Court, has been appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court. The collegium of the apex court had recommended the name of Banerjee on July 16 for elevation to the Supreme Court. Banerjee will be only the eighth woman judge of the top court. Justice Banerjee was appointed as a Judge of the Calcutta High Court on February 5, 2002, and was transferred to the Delhi High Court on August 8, 2016.

With Justice Banerjee’s elevation, the apex court will have three woman sitting judges. Justice R Banumathi and Justice Indu Malhotra are the other two judges. Earlier in the day, the government has cleared the recommendation of the Supreme Court collegium to elevate Justice KM Joseph, who heads the Uttarakhand High Court, to the top court. The government has also given its nod to appoint Orissa High Court Chief Justice Vineet Saran to the SC

Justice Joseph's name was recommended for appointment as a judge of the Supreme Court by the collegium headed by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra on January 10. On April 30, the government had returned the recommendation for reconsideration on the ground that he lacked seniority. The number of judges in the top court after the appointments would go up to 25 so, there would still be six vacancies.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 03, 2018 11:54 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).