Two high court chief justices were on Friday elevated to the Supreme Court, bringing the total strength of the apex court to its maximum of 34 judges.
"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: Rajesh Bindal, Chief Justice, Allahabad HC and Aravind Kumar, Chief Justice, Gujarat HC," Law Minister Kiren Rijiju tweeted
Once they take oath, the top court will achieve its full strength of 34 judges, including the Chief Justice of India.
On January 31, the Supreme Court collegium had recommended their names.
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5 HC judges were elevated to Supre Court lat week
Last week, five judges were appointed to the Supreme Court.Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud administered the oath of office to five new judges of the Supreme Court.
Justices Pankaj Mithal, Sanjay Karol, P V Sanjay Kumar, Ahsanuddin Amanullah and Manoj Misra were administered the oath during a swearing-in ceremony held in the Supreme Court premises.
With the appointment of the five judges, the total number of judges in the apex court has risen to 32, two short of the full strength.Their names were recommended for elevation as apex court judges by the Supreme Court Collegium on December 13, 2022.
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On February 4, Law Minister Kiren Rijiju had announced the appointment of Justices Pankaj Mithal, Chief Justice of Rajasthan High Court, Justice Karol, Chief Justice of Patna High Court, Justice Kumar, Chief Justice of Manipur High Court, Justice Amanullah of Patna High Court and Justice Misra of Allahabad High Court as apex court judges.
This came amid a tiff between the government and the judiciary over the process of appointing judges to the Supreme Court and the 25 high courts.
The apex court and the government have openly expressed their differences over the Collegium system of appointment of judges in the higher judiciary.
Rijiju had recently described the Collegium as being "alien" to the Indian Constitution, while Vice President and Rajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar questioned the Supreme Court striking down the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) Act and a related constitution amendment Act in 2015.
Through the NJAC law, the government had sought to replace the Collegium system of appointing Supreme Court and High Court judges with a new method.
The Centre had assured the top court that the Collegium's recommendation for the appointment of five judges in the apex court will be cleared soon.
(With PTI Inputs)
