After 2 months of Govt-Collegium tussle, SC gets 5 new judges

With the swearing-in of five new judges, the strength of the top court would go up to 32 from 27 and only two vacancies would remain.

New Delhi, Feb 06: Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud on Monday administered the oath of office to the five new judges as the Supreme Court judges.

Rajasthan High Court (HC) Chief Justice Pankaj Mithal; Patna HC Chief Justice Sanjay Karol; Manipur HC Chief Justice PV Sanjay Kumar; Patna HC judge, Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah; and Allahabad HC judge, Justice Manoj Misra took oath as judges of the top court.

On December 13, the Supreme Court Collegium on December 13 had recommended these names for the elevation.

With the swearing-in of five new judges, the strength of the top court would go up to 32 from 27 and only two vacancies would remain. The Supreme Court has a sanctioned strength of 34 judges.

The Supreme Court Collegium on January 31 recommended two more names for elevation to the apex court.

What you need to know about the five new judges:

Pankaj Mithal

Born on 17 June 1961, Justice Pankaj Mithal is an Indian Judge. Presently, he is a Chief Justice of the Rajasthan High Court. Prior to that, he served as as the Chief Justice of the Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court. He is a former Judge of the Allahabad High Court.

Sanjay Karol

Sanjay Karol is an Indian Judge. Presently, he is Chief Justice of Patna High Court. He is former Chief Justice of Tripura High Court. He is also former Judge and Acting Chief Justice of Himachal Pradesh High Court.

PV Sanjay Kumar

P.V. Kumar was born on 14 August 1963, in Hyderabad to late P. Ramachandra Reddy and P. Padmavathamma. P.Ramachandra Reddy was the former Advocate General of Andhra Pradesh High Court (1969 to 1982).

Ahsanuddin Amanullah

Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah is presently a Judge of the Patna High Court. He has also served at the Andhra Pradesh High Court. Born to an eminent family hailing from Bihar, Amanullah his law degree from Patna Law College. Justice Amanullah was briefly transferred to Andhra Pradesh high court in October 2021, before being re-transferred to the Patna high court in June last year.

Manoj Misra

Justice Manoj Misra obtained his law degree from the University of Allahabad in 1988 and has, since, practiced in civil, revenue, criminal and Constitutional matters. He was elevated as an additional judge of Allahabad high court on November 21, 2011, by then President Pratibha Patil and was made permanent on 6 August 2013. He has served as a judge of the Allahabad high court since then.