3 HC Chief Justices, 2 Senior Judges To Take Oath In Supreme Court Today

Five judges from various high courts, including three Chief Justices, will take oath as Supreme Court judges on Monday.

The Supreme Court of India will welcome five new judges on Monday, increasing its strength to 32, as three Chief Justices of high courts, Justice Pankaj Mithal, Justice Sanjay Karol, and P V Sanjay Kumar, take their oaths of office. The two other senior high court judges to be administered the oath by the Chief Justice of India are Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah of the Patna High Court and Justice Manoj Misra of the Allahabad High Court.

Justice Mithal, born on June 17, 1961, will be the seniormost judge among the five. He is a 1982 commerce graduate from Allahabad University and completed his LLB in 1985 from Meerut College. After enrolling as an advocate in the Bar Council of Uttar Pradesh the same year, he began practising at the Allahabad High Court and served as a standing counsel for various organisations. He was elevated as an additional judge of the Allahabad High Court in 2006 and took oath as a permanent judge in 2008. He served as the Chief Justice of the Common High Court for the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh in 2021.

Justice Karol, whose parent HC cadre is Himachal Pradesh, was born on August 23, 1961. An alumnus of St Edward School in Shimla, he graduated with honours in history from Government Degree College, Shimla, and obtained his degree in law from Himachal Pradesh University. A senior advocate in 1999, he has specialized in Constitution, taxation, corporate, criminal, and civil cases. He was elevated as a Judge of the Himachal Pradesh High Court in 2007 and served as the Chief Justice of the Tripura High Court and Patna High Court in 2018 and 2019 respectively.

Justice P V Sanjay Kumar, originally from the Telangana High Court, was the head of the Manipur High Court at the time of his recommendation by the Collegium and clearance by the Centre. Born on August 14, 1963, he completed his commerce degree from Nizam College, Hyderabad and his LL.B from Delhi University. He served as a government pleader in the Andhra Pradesh High Court and was elevated to the bench as an additional judge in 2008, becoming a permanent judge in 2010. He served as a judge of the High Court of Punjab and Haryana in 2019 and the Chief Justice of the Manipur High Court in 2021.

Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah, born on May 11, 1963, enrolled with the Bihar State Bar Council in 1991 and served as a government advocate and standing counsel for the state government. He was elevated as a Judge of the Patna High Court in 2011 and transferred to the Andhra Pradesh High Court and back to the Patna High Court in 2021 and 2022 respectively.

Justice Manoj Misra, the fifth judge, was born on June 2, 1965, and enrolled as an advocate in 1988. He was elevated as an additional judge of the Allahabad High Court in 2011 and took oath as a permanent judge in 2013.

All five judges were recommended by the Supreme Court Collegium on December 13, 2022, and two more names, Allahabad High Court Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal and Gujarat High Court Chief Justice Aravind Kumar, were recommended for elevation as top court judges on January 31, 2023. Out of the 27 current apex court judges, eight are set to demit office this year.

The oath-taking ceremony will be held at the court's auditorium in its new building complex and will be presided over by the Chief Justice of India.

(With inputs from PTI.)