Meet the five fresh faces joining the Supreme Court bench

New Delhi: Five new judges appointed to the Supreme Court will take the oath of office Monday morning.

Three of them -- Justice Pankaj Mithal, Justice Sanjay Karol and Justice P V Sanjay Kumar – were the chief justices of the high courts of Rajasthan, Patna and Manipur respectively. The other two are Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah of the Patna High Court and Justice Manoj Misra of the Allahabad High Court.

Here is what you need to know about the five new judges:

JUSTICE PANKAJ MITHAL

Justice Mithal, whose parent cadre is the Allahabad High Court, had been serving as the Chief Justice of the Rajasthan High Court since October 14 last year.

Born on June 17, 1961, Justice Mithal is a 1982 commerce graduate from Allahabad University. He completed his LLB in 1985 from Meerut College and enrolled as an advocate in the Bar Council of Uttar Pradesh the same year.

He started practising in the Allahabad High Court in 1985 and served as the standing counsel for the Uttar Pradesh Avas Evam Vikas Parishad. He was also the standing counsel of Dr B R Ambedkar University, Agra, between 1990 and February 2006.

Justice Mithal was elevated as an additional judge of the Allahabad High Court on July 7, 2006, and took oath as a permanent judge on July 2, 2008. He took oath as the Chief Justice of the Common High Court for the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and the Union Territory of Ladakh on January 4, 2021.

JUSTICE SANJAY KAROL

Justice Karol, the second senior most judge who will take oath on Monday, belonged to the Himachal Pradesh HC cadre. He was the Chief Justice of the Patna High Court at the time of his elevation to the Supreme Court.

Justice Karol was born on August 23, 1961. An alumnus of the prestigious St. Edward School of Shimla, he graduated with honours in History from Government Degree College, Shimla.

A native of Kangra district, he obtained his degree in law from Himachal Pradesh University and enrolled as an advocate in 1986. Justice Karol practised in various courts, including the Supreme Court. He has specialised in matters related to Constitution, taxation, corporate, criminal and civil cases. He was designated as a senior advocate in 1999.

Justice Karol was also the advocate general of Himachal Pradesh from 1998 to 2003 and was elevated as a judge of the Himachal Pradesh High Court on March 8, 2007. He was appointed as acting Chief Justice of the high court with effect from April 25, 2017. He was appointed as the Chief Justice of the Tripura High Court on November 9, 2018, and of the Patna High Court on November 11, 2019.

JUSTICE P V SANJAY KUMAR

Justice Kumar, who originally belonged to the Telangana High Court, is the third in seniority in the list of five judges. He was the Chief Justice of the Manipur High Court when his name was cleared for elevation to the Supreme Court.

Born on August 14, 1963, he did his graduation in Commerce from Nizam College, Hyderabad and secured his LLB degree from Delhi University in 1988. Justice Kumar enrolled as a member of the Bar Council of Andhra Pradesh in August 1988 and served as a government pleader in the Andhra Pradesh High Court from 2000 to 2003.

He was elevated to the bench as an additional judge of the Andhra Pradesh High Court on August 8, 2008, and assumed charge as a permanent judge of the court on January 20, 2010. Justice Kumar assumed charge as a judge of the High Court of Punjab and Haryana on October 14, 2019. He took oath as the Chief Justice of the Manipur High Court on February 14, 2021.

JUSTICE AHSANUDDIN AMANULLAH

Justice Amanullah of the Patna High Court is the fourth judge in the list who has been appointed for the judgeship in the apex court.

Born on May 11, 1963, he enrolled with the Bihar State Bar Council on September 27, 1991, and was standing counsel for the state government from March 2006 to August 2010.

He was a government advocate in the Patna High Court till his elevation as a judge in the same court on June 20, 2011. He was transferred to the Andhra Pradesh High Court on October 10, 2021, and transferred back to the Patna High Court on June 20, 2022.

JUSTICE MANOJ MISRA

Justice Misra was born on June 2, 1965. He enrolled as an advocate on December 12, 1988, and was elevated as an additional judge of the Allahabad High Court on November 21, 2011. He took oath as a permanent judge on August 6, 2013.