Ram Nath Kovind appoints Justices Dinesh Maheshwari and Sanjiv Khanna to Supreme Court amid collegium controversy

Amid the controversy surrounding the Supreme Court collegium, President Ram Nath Kovind on Wednesday appointed Justices Dinesh Maheshwari and Sanjiv Khanna as Supreme Court judges. [caption id=“attachment_5731831” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of the Supreme Court. AP[/caption] Kovind appointed Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court Maheshwari and Delhi High Court judge Khanna as the Supreme Court Collegium on 10 January had recommended their elevation. The collegium’s decision got mired in a major controversy when former Chief Justice of India RM Lodha and Delhi High Court judge Kailash Gambhir raised questions on it. Gambhir even wrote a letter to Kovind questioning the two judges’ elevation, which the judiciary claims has been done ignoring 32 more senior judges. Meanwhile, Chairman of Bar Council of India , MK Mishra, said that the council’s delegation will meet the collegium to ask for a recall of the decision and “if they don’t do it, we’ll sit on a dharna.” The apex court is presently functioning with 26 judges as against the sanctioned strength of 31, leaving five clear vacancies. With inputs from ANI