Four HC chief justices elevated as SC judges

With Karnataka chief justice PD Dinakaran's appointment put on hold, four High Court chief justices were today sworn in as judges of the Supreme Court taking its total strength to 26.
       
Justice AK Patnaik (Madhya Pradesh High Court), justice TS Thakur (Punjab & Haryana  High Court), justice KS Radhakrishnan (Gujarat High Court) and justice Surinder Singh Nijjar (Calcutta High Court) were administered oaths of office and secrecy by chief justice of India KG Balakrishnan at a simple ceremony attended by judges and advocates of the apex court.
       
Names of all the four judges were cleared by the apex court collegium headed by the chief justice. Justice Dinakaran's name was dropped from the list in the wake of
allegations of land grabbing against him, a charge refuted by the judge.
       
The Supreme Court now has 26 judges against the sanctioned strength of 31 judges.