Justices Dinesh Maheshwari and Sanjiv Khanna will take oath as judges of the Supreme Court at 10.30 am on Friday at the court of Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, ANI reported on Thursday. Maheshwari is the chief justice of the Karnataka High Court, while Khanna is a judge of the Delhi High Court.

The Supreme Court Collegium had on January 10 recommended Maheshwari and Khanna’s names for elevation to the top court. It was cleared by President Ram Nath Kovind on Wednesday. The court, which has a sanctioned strength of 31 judges, currently has five vacancies.

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However, four retired judges of the top court and Delhi High Court have questioned the recommendations. Reports said on Wednesday that a sitting Supreme Court judge, Sanjay Kaul, has also told Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi about his objection to the decision.

The collegium that met in December had reportedly decided to elevate Rajasthan High Court Chief Justice Pradeep Nandrajog, and Delhi High Court Chief Justice Rajendra Menon. However, on January 10, the collegium comprising Gogoi and Justices AK Sikri, SA Bobde, NV Ramana and Arun Mishra decided to elevate Khanna and Maheshwari instead.

Former Delhi High Court judge Kailash Gambhir wrote to President Ram Nath Kovind, in a letter dated January 14, objecting to the collegium’s recommendation. The former judge said that elevating Khanna would mean superseding three judges senior to him in the Delhi High Court and 30 judges senior to him across the country, including chief justices. Maheshwari on the other hand, had earlier been superseded for elevation.

Former Supreme Court Justice J Chelameswar suggested that nothing has changed in the functioning of the collegium. “This is exactly why I refused to attend the collegium meetings in 2016,” he told The Indian Express. “I was told by legal luminaries then that I should resign and then speak. Now, I have retired, so should I speak?”