NEW DELHI: Two new judges Justices Rajesh Bindal and Aravind Kumar were sworn in as Supreme Court judges on Monday, taking the number of judges in the top court to the sanctioned strength of 34 judges.
Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud administered the office to them in presence all other SC judges and lawyers in a programme.
Bindal was the Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court, while Kumar was the Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court.
The recommendations on their names were made by the Collegium on January 31.
On February 10, the Union government had cleared the appointment of Justices Bindal and Kumar as judges of the Supreme Court.
Earlier, in 2019, the Supreme Court has functioned with full strength of judges.
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.
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.