PATNA, June 16 -- Seven new judges were sworn in at the Centenary Hall of the Patna high court on Monday, taking the court's strength to 44 against the sanctioned strength of 53. With new induction, the HC bench strength rises to 83%, the highest in recent decades, with only nine seats remaining vacant. The judges were sworn in by Chief Justice Meenakshi Madan Rai, who took charge as the 48th CJ of the Patna high court on June 9 last. Those who took oath are three judges -- Ranjan Kumar Jha, Kumar Manish and Raj Kumar -- and four additional judges -- Rana Vikram Singh, Vikash Kumar, Girijish Kumar and Alok Kumar. The tenure for additional judges will be two years. All the newly-appointed judges have been elevated directly from the bar. Nine names were cleared for appointment as judges by the Supreme Court Collegium in February and seven were finally elevated. The notification was issued by the Union ministry of law and justice on June 10, 2026. At the oath function, Bar Council of India president Manan Kumar Mishra, outgoing advocate general PK Shahi, judges, advocates, office-bearers of the Patna high court advocate associations, senior advocate Yogesh Chandra Verma, government advocate Prashant Pratap and others were present. The new appointments are significant in view of the mounting cases and insufficient number of judges, with the strength dropping to just 17 in 2021. The appointments gained momentum with over 35 recommendations made by the HC collegium during former Chief Justice Sanjay Karol's tenure, who is presently a SC judge. During his period, the working strength had reached 37. Higher number of judges at the HC is expected to reduce the backlog of cases that, according to national Judicial Data Grid, crossed 215,000 in December, 2025, with most cases pending for over five years. Bihar is also set to have its new Advocate General and the notification is likely to be released any day, as PK Shahi resigned from the post on Sunday after a long tenure in keeping the convention following the installation of a new state government in Bihar in April this year....