With two more judges, Supreme Court regains full strength of 34

The Union government on Friday cleared the appointment of Justices Rajesh Bindal and Aravind Kumar as judges of the Supreme Court.

With this, the number of judges in the Supreme Court would rise to its sanctioned strength of 34.

Bindal was the Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court, while Kumar, who is from Karnataka, was the Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court.

In another decisions, the Centre also notified appointment of Justice Pritinker Diwaker, Judge, Allahabad High Court as acting Chief Justice and Justice Sonia Giridhar Gokani, Judge, Gujarat High Court as acting Chief Justice over there.

Both were recommended by the Collegium on Thursday for appointment as Chief Justices in Allahabad and Gujarat High Courts.

On February 4, the Centre had issued notifications on elevation of Justices Pankaj Mithal, Sanjay Karol, P V Sanjay Kumar, Ahsanuddin Amanullah and Manoj Misra as judges of the Supreme Court. All five judges had assumed office on February 6.

On January 31, the six-member Collegium headed by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud made the unanimous resolution to approve name of Justice Bindal, who hailed from Punjab and Haryana High Court, and stood at number two in the combined all India seniority list of High Court judges, for appointment as Supreme Court judge.

However, on the name of Justice Kumar, who is originally from the Karnataka High Court, a Collegium member, Justice K M Joseph made reservations and opined that his name may be considered at a later date.

Justice Bindal was appointed as a Judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court on March 22, 2006.

He was appointed as Chief Justice of the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad on October 11, 2021.

He is the seniormost Judge hailing from the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which is one of the largest High Courts with a sanctioned strength of 85 judges.

Justice Kumar was appointed as an Additional Judge of the Karnataka High Court on June 26, 2009 and as permanent Judge on December 7, 2012. He was elevated as Chief Justice of the High Court of Gujarat on October 13, 2021. Justice Kumar stands at serial number 26 in the combined all-India-seniority of High Court Judges.