In a ceremony held on Friday morning at 10 AM, Chief Justice Arun Bhansali administered the oath of office to six newly appointed additional judges of the Allahabad High Court. All six were previously serving as District Judges. Those sworn in include Jitendra Kumar Sinha, Anil Kumar (X), Sandeep Jain, Avneesh Saxena, Madan Pal Singh, and Harveer Singh.
The swearing-in ceremony was attended by other sitting judges and representatives of the Bar Association. Owing to the ceremony, judicial proceedings at the court commenced at 11 AM instead of the usual time.
With these six judges assuming office, the total strength of judges in the Allahabad High Court has reached 87 out of the sanctioned 160. Of these, 23 judges are posted at the Lucknow Bench.
Only 86 Judges Currently Discharging Judicial Work
Currently, only 86 judges are undertaking judicial responsibilities. Justice Yashwant Varma, who was transferred from the Delhi High Court, has not been assigned judicial work pending administrative clearance.
Earlier this month, the Supreme Court Collegium, headed by Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna, had recommended the elevation of eight District Judges to the Allahabad High Court. On Wednesday, the Ministry of Law and Justice issued appointment notifications for six of them.
The names of two District Judges—Tej Pratap Tiwari (Gorakhpur) and Abdul Shahid (Pratapgarh)—are still pending approval. Additionally, the recommendations for the elevation of two advocates, Amitabh Kumar Rai (Lucknow) and Rajeev Lochan Shukla (Prayagraj), made by the Collegium at the end of March, have not yet been cleared by the Central Government.
Even if all the pending recommendations are approved, the judge strength of the Allahabad High Court will remain significantly below the sanctioned capacity.
