The appointment of Justice Aravind Kumar and Justice Rakesh Bindal as judges of the Supreme Court has been cleared by the Central government on Friday.
With their appointments, the Supreme Court will have full working strength of 34 judges. The last time the Supreme Court had full its full strength of 34 judges was during the period September 2019 -November 2019.
Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju tweeted that according to the provisions under the Constitution of India, the 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.
Justice Bindal is currently serving as the Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court while Justice Kumar is the Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court.
The recommendations for their elevation were put forward by the Collegium on January 31.
Justice Rajesh Bindal was appointed as a judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in March 2006. He was appointed as the Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court in October 2021.
As per seniority, Justice Bindal is the second most senior judge among High Court judges in the country.
When the collegium was recommending the name of Justice Bindal, it observed that the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which is Justice Bindal’s parent High Court and one of the largest High Courts, is not adequately represented in the Supreme Court.
Justice Aravind Kumar was appointed as an additional judge of the Karnataka High Court in June 2009 and made a permanent judge in December 2012. In 2021, he was elevated as Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court.
As per seniority, Justice Kumar is the 26th senior-most Judge position among High Court judges.
It is important note that the resolution has recorded that one Collegium member, Justice KM Joseph, had expressed his reservations on the ground that Justice Kumar’s name can be considered at a later stage.
Just a couple of days back, the Centre had notified the appointments of five judges to the Supreme Court based on the Collegium proposal of December 2022.
Justices Pankaj Mithal, Sanjay Karol, PV Sanjay Kumar, Ahsanuddin Amanullah and Manoj Misra were sworn in as Supreme Court judges on February 6 after the Central Government cleared their names on February 4.