An Additional Judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court since May last year, Justice Rohit Kapoor was sworn in as a regular Judge on Thursday. Chief Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra administered the oath at a simple yet impressive ceremony attended by sitting and retired judges, bureaucrats, relatives and members of the legal fraternity.Justice Kapoor, whose name was first recommended for elevation by the Supreme Court Collegium in January 2024, has built a reputation in service, civil, and constitutional law. As an advocate, he was known for his meticulous preparation, persuasive arguments, and deep understanding of administrative and constitutional matters.Justice Kapoor currently shares the Bench with Chief Justice Mishra. Their Bench has issued several key rulings, including orders relating to mining and the environment. On mining, the Bench directed Haryana to ensure compulsory annual drone mapping of all mining sites across the State to check allegations of rampant illegal mining. It also mandated an immediate halt to unauthorised sand mining and the use of heavy machinery in certain areas of Punjab, and ordered a CBI probe into the genuineness of an illegal mining plea and the subsequent bid to withdraw it.Beyond mining, the Bench ordered the Punjab government to release all pending Dearness Allowance (DA) and Dearness Relief (DR) instalments to State employees and pensioners. It also held that the high rate of drug dependence inside Punjab prisons amounted to a violation of Article 21, requiring strict State accountability.The High Court, as of now, has 64 Judges against a sanctioned strength of 85. The elevation of seven advocates as High Court Judges is in the pipeline.