Supreme Court Gets Five New Judges: Who Are They?

The Centre on Saturday, 4 February, notified the appointment of five judges to the Supreme Court. 

(Image courtesy: The Quint)

Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, on Monday, 6 February, administered the oath to five new judges of the Supreme Court of India after the Centre on 4 February, notified their appointment.

The notification came a day after the Attorney General informed the apex court they will soon clear the recommendations, and the apex court pointed out that the recommendations were made all the way back in December 2022.

But who are these five judges? Where do they hail from? And what is their legal history?

Let us find out:

Justice Pankaj Mithal

Justice Pankaj Mithal

(Image Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons)

Justice Pankaj Mithal was formerly a judge of the Allahabad High Court, after which he went on to serve as the Chief Justice of the Jammu & Kashmir High Court. On 14 October, 2022, he was appointed as the Chief Justice of the the Rajasthan High Court.

Born in Meerut on 17 June 1961, into a family of lawyers, Justice Mithal enrolled in the Bar Council of Uttar Pradesh in 1985. He became an Additional Judge at the Allahabad High Court on 7 July 2006, and was made a permanent judge two years later.

Justice PV Sanjay Kumar

Justice PV Sanjay Kumar

(Image courtesy: Manipur High Court website)

Before being appointed the Chief Justice of Manipur High Court, Justice PV Sanjay Kumar was a judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Prior to that he was a judge at the Telangana High Court.

Born on 14 August 1963 in Hyderabad, Justice Kumar enrolled in the Bar Council of Andhra Pradesh in August 1988. From 2000 to 2003, he served as the government pleader in the Andhra Pradesh High Court. His father, P Ramachandra Reddy, was a former Advocate General of Andhra Pradesh.

Justice Sanjay Karol

Justice Sanjay Karol

(Image courtesy: Punjab & Haryana High Court website)

Prior to his appointment as the Chief Justice of Patna High Court, Justice Sanjay Karol served as the Chief Justice of Tripura High Court and Acting Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court.

His initial elevation to the bench was in 2007 as a judge of the Himachal Pradesh High Court.

Justice Karol was born in Shimla on 23 August 1961. He studied law at the Faculty of Law, Himachal Pradesh University and enrolled as an advocate in 1983.

Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah

Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah

(Image courtesy: Punjab & Haryana High Court website)

Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah has served as a judge both at the Patna High Court as well as the Andhra Pradesh High Court. Born on 11 May 1963, he studied law at the Patna Law College and enrolled with the Bihar State Bar Council in 1991.

Justice Amanullah served as Standing Council to the Government of Bihar between 2006 and 2010, after which he was the Government Advocate for the State of Bihar till his appointment as a Patna High Court judge in 2010.

Justice Manoj Misra

Justice Manoj Misra

(Image courtesy: Allahabad High Court website)

Justice Manoj Misra was appointed as a judge of the Allahabad High Court on 21 November 2011.

Born on 2 January 1965, Justice Misra received his LLB degree from the Allahabad University and enrolled as an advocate in 1988. As a lawyer, he practiced in the civil, revenue, criminal and constitutional sides.