Supreme Court To Function At Its Full Strength Today With Swearing In Of Justice Rajesh Bindal and Justice Aravind Kumar

With the swearing-in of Justice Rajesh Bindal and Justice Aravind Kumar as judges of the Supreme Court, the Court is set to function at its full sanctioned strength of 34, including the CJI.

Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud today administered the oath of office to the two newly appointed judges whose names were notified by the Centre on Friday.

With these appointments, the total strength of the Supreme Court Judges is 34, which is also the full working strength.

On Friday, the Centre notified the appointment of Justice Rajesh Bindal and Justice Aravind Kumar as Supreme Court Judges. In a Twitter post, Union Minister for Law and Justice Kiren Rijiju said, “As per the provisions under the Constitution of India, Hon’ble President of India has appointed the following Chief Justices of High Courts as Judges of the Supreme Court. My best to them: 1. Rajesh Bindal, Chief Justice, Allahabad HC; 2. Aravind Kumar, Chief Justice, Gujarat HC.”

In its resolution dated 31 January 2023, the Supreme Court Collegium had recommended the elevation of Justice Rajesh Bindal and Justice Aravind Kumar, as Judges of the Supreme Court.

Before their elevation to the Supreme Court, Justice Bindal was the Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court while Justice Kumar was the Chief Justice of Gujarat High Court.

In the Supreme Court, Justice Bindal will have tenure until April 15, 2025, while Justice Kumar will have tenure until July 13, 2026.

On February 4, the Centre cleared five earlier recommendations and notified appointment of five judges that had been pending since December 13 last year.

On February 9, the Collegium recommended the appointment of Justice Pritinker Diwaker as the Chief Justice of the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad, after elevation of Mr Justice Rajesh Bindal to the Supreme Court.

Also, the Collegium recommended Justice Sonia G Gokani as the Chief Justice of the High Court of Gujarat immediately on the elevation of Mr Justice Aravind Kumar as a Judge of the Supreme Court. “The recommendation should be processed on priority since she is due to retire on 25 February 2023”, read the statement issued by the Supreme Court.