Five new Supreme Court judges sworn in by CJI Dr. Chandrachud; two vacancies yet to be filled

With their appointment, the working strength of the Supreme Court has increased to 32 against the sanctioned strength of 34 judges.

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A total of five new judges assumed office at the bench of the Supreme Court on Monday after being sworn in by the Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dr. D.Y. Chandrachud. The newly appointed judges are former Chief Justice of Rajasthan High Court, Justice Pankaj Mithal; former Chief Justice of Patna High Court, Justice Sanjay Karol; former Chief Justice of Manipur High Court, Justice P.V. Sanjay Kumar; former Patna High Court judge, Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah; and former Allahabad High Court judge, Justice Manoj Misra.

The Supreme Court Collegium had recommended their names to the Union government for appointment to the Supreme Court on December 14 last year. With their appointment, the working strength of the Supreme Court has increased to 32 against the sanctioned strength of 34 judges.

On January 31, the collegium recommended the names of the Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court, Justice Rajesh Bindal and the Chief Justice of Gujarat High Court, Justice Arvind Kumar, for their elevation as Supreme Court judges. Since the collegium had desired that the appointments of those recommended in December last year should have precedence over the two names recommended in January, the government accordingly first notified the appointments of those recommended in December.

Justice Mithal is a commerce graduate from Allahabad University and passed LL.B. from Meerut College, Meerut, affiliated to Ch. Charan Singh University, in 1985. He enrolled as an advocate with the Bar Council of Uttar Pradesh in 1985. He started practising at the Allahabad High Court in 1985. He worked as standing counsel for the Uttar Pradesh Avas Evam Vikas Parishad, Lucknow from 1990 till his elevation to the bench, and as standing counsel of the Dr B.R. Ambedkar University, Agra from 1990 to February 2006.

He was first appointed as an additional judge of the Allahabad High Court on July 7, 2006, before being appointed as the Chief Justice of the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir, and Ladakh on January 4, 2021. He was appointed as Chief Justice of the Rajasthan High Court on October 14 last year.

Justice Mithal will be in office till June 16, 2026.

Justice Karol hails from Himachal Pradesh. He is an alumnus of St. Edward School, Shimla, and graduated with 'honours' in history from the Government Degree College, Shimla. He subsequently obtained a degree in law from the Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla.

He enrolled as an advocate in 1986. He worked as the advocate general of Himachal Pradesh from 1998 till 2003, before being appointed as judge of the High Court of Himachal Pradesh on March 8, 2007. Prior to his elevation, he was also on the senior panel for the Union government at the Supreme Court.

He was appointed as the Chief Justice of the Tripura High Court on November 9, 2018. Thereafter, he was sent to the Patna High Court as Chief Justice on November 11, 2019.

Justice Karol will be in office till August 8, 2026 as a Supreme Court judge.

Justice Sanjay Kumar is the son of the former advocate General of Andhra Pradesh, P. Ramachandra Reddy. He did his graduation in commerce from Nizam College, Hyderabad before securing a law degree from Delhi University in 1988. He enrolled as an advocate in the same year.

After the retirement of his father from the profession, he practised independently and represented the High Court of Andhra Pradesh and its subordinate judiciary, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited, Indian Oil Corporation Limited and the Special Officer of Urban Land Ceilings, Hyderabad, at the High Court of Andhra Pradesh. He also served as a government pleader at the High Court of Andhra Pradesh from 2000 till 2003.

He was appointed to the Andhra Pradesh High Court as a judge on August 8, 2008, before being transferred as a judge to the High Court of Punjab and Haryana on October 10, 2019. He was then appointed as Chief Justice of the Manipur High Court on February 14, 2021.

Justice Kumar will be retire from the Supreme Court on August 13, 2028

Justice Amanullah, who was the senior-most puisne judge at the Patna High Court, enrolled with the Bihar State Bar Council on September 27, 1991. He practised predominantly at constitutional courts, majorly at the Patna High Court. He served as standing counsel of the Bihar government from March 2006 till August 2010, and government advocate for Bihar from August 2010 till his elevation to the bench.

He was appointed as judge of the Patna High Court on June 20, 2011. He was transferred to the Andhra Pradesh High Court on October 10, 2021, and re-transferred to the Patna High Court on June 20 this year.

Justice Amanullah will retire from the Supreme Court on May 10, 2025.

Justice Misra graduated in law from the University of Allahabad in 1988. He enrolled as an advocate on December 12, 1988. He practised in civil, revenue, criminal and constitutional sides at the Allahabad High Court. He was elevated as an additional judge of the high court on November 21, 2011, before being appointed as permanent judge on August 6, 2013.

He will serve at the Supreme Court till June 1, 2030.