The Supreme Court on Monday achieved its full strength after two new judges Justice Rajesh Bindal and Justice Aravind Kumar were administered oath as Supreme Court judges.
Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud administered the oath of the office to Justice Rajesh Bindal and Justice Aravind Kumar.
One interesting underrated fact here is that one of the judges, Justice Rajesh Bindal disposed of around 80,000 cases during the tenure at his parent cadre, i.e., Punjab and Haryana High Court.
Justice Rajesh Bindal has been elevated to the Supreme Court from Allahabad High Court, where he has been the Chief Justice since October 2021. Justice Bindal’s parent cadre is the Punjab and Haryana High Court. He did his LLB from Kurukshetra University in 1985 and joined the profession in the Punjab and Haryana High Court in September 1985.
Justice Bindal was elevated as a judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court on March 22, 2006. He served there till 18 November 2018. He also worked as a judge at Jammu and Kashmir High Court and at Calcutta High Court.
Justice Bindal was scheduled to leave office in April this year at the age of 62, but due to his elevation to the Supreme Court, he now has three more years in service.
In terms of seniority, Justice Bindal is the second most senior judge among High Court judges in the country.
While recommending his candidature, the Collegium also noted that the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which is Justice Bindal’s parent High Court and one of the largest High Courts in the country, is underrepresented in the Supreme Court.
This year, seven Supreme Court judges will step down after attaining the age of 65.
Justice M. R. Shah will step down in May, followed by Justice K. M. Joseph, Justice Ajay Rastogi, and Justice V. Ramasubramaniam in June, Justice Krishan Murari in July, Justice Ravindra Bhatt in October, and Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul in December.
