President Droupadi Murmu named five new Supreme Court judges on Saturday after the Centre approved the Collegium’s suggestion in December last year.
“As per the provisions under the Constitution of India, Hon’ble President of India has appointed the following Chief Justices and Judges of the High Courts as Judges of the Supreme Court. I extend best wishes to all of them”, wrote Law Minister Kiren Rijiju in a tweet.
As per the provisions under the Constitution of India, Hon’ble President of India has appointed the following Chief Justices and Judges of the High Courts as Judges of the Supreme Court.
I extend best wishes to all of them. pic.twitter.com/DvtBTyGV42— Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) February 4, 2023
Names of five appointed judges:
- Justice Pankaj Mithal, Chief Justice of Rajasthan High Court
- Justice Sanjay Karol, Chief Justice of Patna High Court
- Justice P. V. Sanjay Kumar, Chief Justice of Manipur High Court
- Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah, Judge, Patna High Court
- Justice Manoj Misra, Judge, Allahabad High Court
When they take their oaths early next week, the Supreme Court will be strengthened to 32 judges. Currently, the Supreme Court has 27 judges, including the Chief Justice of India.
The Centre still has to approve two more candidates before the Supreme Court can function with its full complement of 34 judges.
The nomination comes after the Union government informed the Supreme Court yesterday that five additional judges, as suggested by the collegium, will be appointed shortly. The collegium proposed three high court chief justices and two judges for appointment to the Supreme Court last month.
Attorney General R Venkataramani told a bench of Justices SK Kaul and AS Oka that the warrant for the appointment of these five names is anticipated to be issued soon.
The Supreme Court was hearing a case involving the Centre’s alleged delay in approving names suggested by the collegium.
The bench, during the hearing, expressed unhappiness over the delay by the Centre in approving proposals for the transfer of high court judges, stating, “that is a very, very important problem”.
“Don’t make us take a stand, which will be very uncomfortable,” the bench observed.
