4 high court chief justices sworn in as SC judges, total strength up to 28

Four high court chief justices were sworn in as Supreme Court judges on Friday morning. Justices Hemant Gupta, Ajay Rastogi, M R Shah and R Subhash Reddy took oath at around 10:30 am in Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi's court.

With this, the overall number of judges in the Supreme Court is up to 28.

The names of the four high court chief justices were recommended to the government on Tuesday. 
Within 48 hours, the recommendation was accepted and the four were elevated as SC judges.

Justice Gupta is currently the Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court, while Justice Rastogi is the Chief Justice of the Tripura High Court.

Justice Shah is the incumbent Chief Justice of the Patna High Court, while Justice Reddy is the Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court.

This year, two judges -- Justices Madan B Lokur and Kurian Joseph -- are set to retire from the top court, while Justice A K Sikri would demit office in March 2019.

Justice Gupta was appointed as a judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court on July 2, 2002 and on February 8, 2016, he was transferred to the Patna High Court where he was appointed as the Acting Chief Justice on October 29, 2016.

He was appointed as the Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court on March 18, 2017.

Justice Rastogi was appointed as a judge of the Rajasthan High Court in September, 2004 and was also made the Acting Chief Justice there.

He had taken oath as the Chief Justice of the Tripura High Court on March 1, 2018.

Justice Shah was appointed as a judge of the Gujarat High Court on March 7, 2004 and later in August this year, he was sworn in as the Chief Justice of the Patna High Court.

Justice Reddy was elevated as an additional judge of the Andhra Pradesh High Court on December 2, 2002. He was elevated as the Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court on February 13, 2016.