Chief Justice of India Justice D Y Chandrachud on Monday administered the oath of the office to the five new judges as the Supreme Court judges.
With the swearing-in of these five judges, the strength of the top court judges has gone upto 32 – two short of its sanctioned strength of 34 judges. The Supreme Court Collegium on December 13, 2023, had recommended these names for the elevation.
To fill the two vacant positions, the Supreme Court Collegium had on January 31, 2023, recommended two more names for elevation to the top court. Those recommended for elevation to the top court are Allahabad High Court’s Justice Rajesh Bindal and Gujarat High Court Chief Justice Aravind Kumar.
The five judges who were administered oath on Monday included Justice Pankaj Mittal, Justice Sanjay Karol, Justice P. V. Sanjay Kumar , Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah and Justice Manoj Misra.
Prior to their elevation as top court judges – Justice Pankaj Mithal was Chief Justice of Rajasthan High Court, Justice Sanjay Karol was Chief Justice of Patna High Court, Justice P.V. Sanjay Kumar was Chief Justice of Manipur High Court, Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah was judge of Patna High Court and Justice Manoj Misra was judge of Allahabad High Court.
The Attorney General R Venkataramani had on Friday (February 3) intoned the Supermen Court that the Centre will soon clear the five names recommended by the top court collegium for elevation as the Supreme Court judges.
Earlier in a hearing relating to the appointment of judges in the High Judiciary, Justice Sanjay Kaul had told Centre, “If you keep them pending… you will make us take some very, very difficult decisions.”
President Droupadi Murmu signed the warrants to appoint five new judges to the Supreme Court on Saturday.