The Supreme Court's main judgments in 2021 included verdicts authorising an investigation into the suspected use of Pegasus spyware for monitoring and opening the way for the enlargement of the important Chardham highway project near the China border as well as the Central Vista development.
For the first time, the Supreme Court received nine judges at one sitting, including Justice B V Nagarathna, who is set to become India's first female Chief Justice in 2027. Justice N V Ramana, who comes from an agriculturist family in Ponnavaram village in Andhra Pradesh's Krishna district, was sworn in as the 48th Chief Justice of India in April, following the retirement of his predecessor Justice S A Bobde. The collegium, chaired by the CJI, submitted a spate of recommendations that resulted in the SC replacing nine empty seats and the high courts filling over 100. Three women judges — Hima Kohli, Nagarathna, and Bela M Trivedi — were appointed to the Supreme Court for the first time. After the retirement of then-CJI Ranjan Gogoi on November 17, 2019, the collegium chaired by Justice Ramana concluded a 21-month stalemate over appointing justices to the Supreme Court.