New Delhi: 5 High Court judges took office today (Monday) as the new judges of the Supreme Court. Chief Justice DY Chandrachud administered the oath of office to them.
Earlier, on Saturday (February 3), the President had approved the appointment of 5 judges as Supreme Court judges on the recommendation of the Supreme Court collegium.
On December 13 last year, the Supreme Court Collegium appointed Chief Justice of Rajasthan High Court Pankaj Mittal, Chief Justice of Patna High Court Sanjay Karol, Chief Justice of Manipur High Court Sanjay Kumar, Patna High Court Justice Asanuddin Amanullah and Achalagabad High Court Justice Manoj Mishra. It had recommended to the Union Law Ministry for appointment as court judges.
With the Supreme Court’s recommendation on hold, the case regarding the delay in appointment of judges came up for hearing in the Supreme Court on Friday. A bench comprising Justices Kaul and AS Oka heard it. Then Attorney General R. Venkataramani said the 5 judges recommended by the collegium as Supreme Court judges will be appointed soon.
This was a very important issue when the bench expressed its displeasure over the central government’s delay in appointing judges recommended by the collegium. They told us not to force us to take a very uncomfortable position.
In this situation, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court administered the oath of office to the judges recommended by the collegium today (February 6). There should be a total of 34 judges in the Supreme Court including the Chief Justice. Earlier there were 27 judges. With the induction of five new judges, the number of Supreme Court judges has increased to 32. Note that two more seats are vacant.
