2 new judges sworn in, SC functioning at full-strength

Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud on Monday administered the oath of office to two new judges of the Supreme Court, taking the number of judges in the apex court to its full sanctioned strength of 34.

Justices Rajesh Bindal and Aravind Kumar were administered oath during a swearing-in ceremony held in the Supreme Court premises.

With the appointment of two judges, the total number of judges in the apex court has risen to 34.

Before being elevated as judges of the apex court, Justice Bindal was the Chief Justice of the Allahabad high court while Justice Kumar was the Chief Justice of the Gujarat high court.

Their names were recommended for elevation as apex court judges by the Supreme Court Collegium on January 31.

On February 6, the CJI had administered the oath of office to Justices Pankaj Mithal, Sanjay Karol, P V Sanjay Kumar, Ahsanuddin Amanullah and Manoj Misra as apex court judges.

Justice Bindal was serving as the Chief Justice of the Allahabad high court since October 11, 2021.

Born on April 16, 1961, Justice Bindal did LL.B. from the Kurukshetra University in 1985 and joined the profession in the Punjab and Haryana high court in September 1985.

He was elevated as a judge of the Punjab and Haryana high court on March 22, 2006.

According to information available on the website of the Allahabad high court, Justice Bindal disposed of around 80,000 cases during his tenure in the Punjab and Haryana high court.

On his transfer to the Jammu and Kashmir high court, he took oath of office on November 19, 2018 and later, he was appointed as the acting Chief Justice of the common high court for the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and Union Territory of Ladakh.

Justice Bindal was sworn in as a judge of the Calcutta high court on January 5, 2021 and was appointed to perform the duties of the office of the Chief Justice of that high court with effect from April 29, 2021.

Prior to his elevation as an apex court judge, Justice Kumar was serving as the Chief Justice of the Gujarat high court since October 13, 2021.

Born on July 14, 1962, he was enrolled as an advocate in 1987.

In 1999, he was appointed as an additional central government standing counsel at the Karnataka high court.

He was appointed as member of the Regional Direct Taxes Advisory Committee in 2002 and later, he was appointed as an Assistant Solicitor General of India in 2005.

Justice Kumar was elevated as an additional judge of the Karnataka high court on June 26, 2009. He was elevated as a permanent judge on December 7, 2012.