New Delhi: Along with a statement listing reasons for their elevation and reservations of members, the Supreme Court Collegium has cleared two more names for posts of judges at the apex court.The Collegium which appoints judges is locked in a tussle with the Union government, which has demanded a greater say in the matter. Recently, the SC Collegium has made public the reasons cited by the Union government in turning down the SC’s recommendations.The Collegium has noted that it was anonymous in recommending the appointment of Justice Rajesh Bindal, who is at present, the Chief Justice of the Allahabad high court.The second name, of Justice Aravind Kumar, saw Justice K.M. Joseph express reservations on the ground that his name can be considered later as well. Justice Kumar is the Chief Justice at the Gujarat high court.Other than Justice Joseph, the Collegium comprises Chief Justice of India D. Y. Chandrachud, Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Justice M.R. Shah, Justice Ajay Rastogi and Justice Sanjiv Khanna.The Collegium’s new recommendations arrive the past five recommendations remain pending. The five judges who were recommended on December 13, 2022, are Justice Pankaj Mithal, Justice Sanjay Karol, Justice P.V. Sanjay Kumar, Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah and Justice Manoj Misra. Of them, the senior-most, is Justice Pankaj Mithal, who is Chief Justice of Rajasthan high court.In its latest missive, the Supreme Court Collegium noted that the appointment of the above five judges would take precedence.In all, there are seven vacancies at the Supreme Court.This new batch of recommendations is a rare instance when the Collegium has cited which aspects were considered while recommending judges. LiveLaw reports that five major areas were considered: seniority, equitable representation of high courts, representation of marginalised and backwards sections of the society, gender diversity and representation of minorities.For Justice Bindal, for instance, the Collegium said that it considered the fact that the Punjab and Haryana high court which is one of the largest high courts in the country with a sanctioned strength of 85 judges “is not adequately represented on the Bench of the Supreme Court.” Bindal is the seniormost judge hailing from the Punjab and Haryana high court.Justice Kumar, who is lower on the seniority list than Justice Bindal, is also not the seniormost of the judges of the Karnataka high court – where he was originally elevated as a judge. The Collegium noted this and also the fact that “at present, the bench of the Supreme Court is represented by two judges from the Karnataka high court.”