Lawyers Anshuman Pandey and Khatim Reza were on Sunday administered the oath of office as judges of Patna High Court by Chief Justice Sanjay Karol. The Supreme Court collegium had first recommended their appointment on September 23, 2021. However, the Law Ministry had returned the files but the collegium stuck to its resolution and reiterated its recommendation in February 2022. The central government had on Friday notified their appointment as judges of the high court. Prior to this, the Law Ministry had on June 1 notified the appointment of seven judicial officers as judges of the high court. With the appointment of a total of nine judges in a span of three days, the working strength of judges at the high court has increased to 34. The total sanctioned strength of judges in the high court is 53.