The Collegium’s fresh recommendation comes even as the five previous recommendations for appointment as Supreme Court Judges are pending. On December 13 last year, the Collegium had recommended five names and the appointments are yet to be made. The Supreme Court Collegium, headed by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud, Tuesday recommended Justice Rajesh Bindal and Justice Aravind Kumar — they are Chief Justices of the High Courts of Allahabad and Gujarat, respectively — for appointment as Judges of the Supreme Court. The Collegium’s fresh recommendation comes even as the five previous recommendations for appointment as Supreme Court Judges are pending. On December 13 last year, the Collegium had recommended five names and the appointments are yet to be made. The Collegium, also comprising Justices S K Kaul, K M Joseph, M R Shah, Ajay Rastogi and Sanjiv Khanna, gave detailed reasons for clearing the two new names. It said “the resolution of the Collegium in regard to the appointment of Mr Justice Rajesh Bindal… Allahabad is unanimous. However, in regard to the appointment of Mr Justice Aravind Kumar, Chief Justice of the High Court of Gujarat, Justice K M Joseph has expressed his reservations on the ground that his name can be considered at a later stage”. The resolution adopted by the Collegium said the court which has a sanctioned strength of 34 Judges is presently functioning with 27 Judges and “thus, there are seven clear vacancies”. It pointed out that “on 13 December 2022, the Collegium recommended five names for appointment as Judges of the Supreme Court, namely (i) Mr Justice Pankaj Mithal, (ii) Mr Justice Sanjay Karol, (iii) Mr Justice P V Sanjay Kumar, (iv) Mr Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah, and (v) Mr Justice Manoj Misra. Their appointment is yet to be notified by the Government”. The Collegium said it had resolved to recommend two more names for appointment as Judges of the Supreme Court against the two remaining vacancies. It said that while evaluating the names, the “judgments authored by those falling in the zone of consideration for elevation… were circulated among the members of the Collegium for a meaningful discussion on and assessment of their judicial acumen”. The statement said that “after carefully evaluating the merit, integrity and competence of eligible Chief Justices and senior puisne Judges of the High Courts and also accommodating a plurality of considerations, the Collegium” found Justices Bindal and Kumar “to be more deserving and suitable in all respects for being appointed as Judges of the Supreme Court of India”. The resolution said that “while recommending the above names the Collegium has taken into consideration the following aspects: a. The seniority of Chief Justices and senior puisne Judges in their respective parent High Courts as well as overall seniority of the High Court Judges; b. The merit, performance and integrity of the judges under consideration; and c. The need to ensure diversity and inclusion in the Supreme Court by: (i) representation of High Courts which are not represented or are inadequately represented, in the Supreme Court; (ii) appointing persons from marginalized and backward segments of society; (iii) gender diversity; and (iv) representation of minorities”. It said “the names recommended earlier by the Collegium by its resolution dated 13 December 2022 shall have precedence over the two names recommended presently for appointment to the Supreme Court” and “therefore, the appointments of five judges recommended on 13 December 2022 should be notified separately and earlier in point of time before the two judges recommended by this resolution”.