The Supreme Court welcomes five new judges today i.e. on Monday, taking the number of judges to 32 against the sanctioned strength of 34. According to the officials, the oath of the five judges would be administered by Chief Justice of India, DY Chandrachud. The oath ceremony will see the largest number of SC judges taking oath simultaneously in two years. In 2021, almost nine judges were sworn in, said the officials.

New 5 SC Judges appointed

The newly appointed are Justices Pankaj Mithal, Sanjay Karol, PV Sanjay Kumar, Ahsanuddin Amanullah and Manoj Misra.

Last year, on December 13, all five names for the new judgeship in the apex court were recommended by the six-member Supreme Court Collegium. As per the officials, the Law Minister cleared the appointments on February 4.

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Law Minister Kiren Rijiju’s stance collegium system

Recently, the law minister, Kiren Rijiju commented that the judges took oath in the backdrop of the collegium system becoming a major flashpoint between the apex court and the centre, with the mechanism of the judges appointing judges sparking an intense debate that, in a departure from tradition.

Moreover, the law minister has described the Collegium system 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 minister added.

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