SC Gets 5 New Judges, Chief Justice Administers Oath Of Office

New Delhi: The appointments come amidst the war of words between the SC collegium and Centre on delay in processing recommendations and transfer of judge.

Amidst the standoff with the Centre over the appointment and transfer of judges, five newly appointed Supreme Court judges were sworn in by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud at a solemn ceremony at Supreme Court Monday morning.

The new five names recommended by the Supreme Court collegium on Dec 13, 2022, were notified by the Centre the day before yesterday ie February 4.

The 5 new judges are Justice Pankaj Mithal, Justice Sanjay Karol, Justice P V Sanjay Kumar, Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah, and Justice Manoj Mishra

Before his elevation to SC, Justice Pankaj Mithal was Chief Justice of the Rajasthan High Court. Prior to this, he was the Chief Justice of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court. Before his elevation as Chief Justice, he was a judge of the Allahabad High Court. Justice Mithal was enrolled in the Bar Council of Uttar Pradesh in the year 1985 and started practicing in the high court as an advocate.

Before his elevation to SC, Justice Sanjay Karol has been the Chief Justice of Patna High Court since November 2019. Prior to this, he was appointed as the Chief Justice of the High Court of Tripura. He was appointed as acting Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court. Justice Karol enrolled as an advocate in the year 1986 and started his practice in the high court and supreme court as well.

Justice PV Sanjay Kumar was the Chief Justice of the Manipur High Court since 2021. Previously, he was a judge at the Punjab and Haryana High Court. He has also served as a judge at the Andhra Pradesh High court. Justice Kumar was enrolled as a member of the Bar Council of Andhra Pradesh in August 1988.

Before his elevation to SC, Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah was a judge of the Patna High Court. Elevated as judge of the Patna High Court in 2011, he was then transferred to Andhra Pradesh High Court in 2021. Thereafter, he was re-transferred to the Patna High Court in June 2022.

Justice Amanullah was enrolled with the Bihar State Bar Council in September 1991.

Justice Manoj Sinha was the judge of the Allahabad High Court. He took an oath as a judge in 2011. Justice Misra was enrolled as an advocate on December 12, 1988, and practised in the civil, revenue, criminal and constitutional sides of the Allahabad High Court.

SC COLLEGIUM VS CENTRE TUSSLE

Even as late as on February 3 the Supreme Court bench led by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul questioned the delay in the Centre deciding on the five recommendations for SC judgeship.

Attorney General R Venkataramani has assured that the names will be notified by Sunday. The SC bench which took a serious view of the Centre sitting on a recommendation for a judgeship to HC and SC and also the transfer of judges had warned the Centre that it “would be forced to take tough and difficult decisions” that may not be palatable to the government.

Apparently referring to the criticism and strong words of the SC, Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju while speaking at Allahabad had said the country will be governed according to the Constitution and wishes of the people and nobody can give warning to anyone.

The public is the ‘malik’ (master) of this country and we are servants. We all are here for service and the Constitution is our guide…. The country will be governed under the guidance of the Constitution and the wishes of the public. Nobody can give a warning to anyone,” Rijiju said.

“Sometimes discussions are held in the country on some matters and in a democracy, everyone has the right to express their opinion. But people sitting in responsible positions have to think before saying anything, whether it will benefit the country or not”, he said.

---

Next Story :

Now you can get the latest stories from Indtoday on Telegram every day. Click the link to subscribe.  Click to follow Indtoday’s Facebook page and Twitter and Instagram. For all the latest Hyderabad News updates