Supreme Court gets two new judges.
Supreme Court gets two new judges.
The Central Government on Thursday approved the appointment of Andhra Pradesh High Court Chief Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra and senior advocate KV Vishwanathan as judges of the Supreme Court. Both of them have taken oath as judges of the Supreme Court today. KV Vishwanath will also become the Chief Justice of India in August 2030. His tenure will be 24 May 2031 i.e. more than nine months. He will be the fourth judge to become the Chief Justice directly from the Bar Association.
The Supreme Court Collegium had on May 16 sent a recommendation to the Center to elevate Supreme Court Chief Advocate KV Vishwanathan and Andhra Pradesh High Court Chief Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra as SC judges. The strength of Supreme Court judges has come down to 32 after Justice MR Shah and Justice Dinesh Maheshwari quit the court this month. Also, the CJI said that after the retirement of some judges, only 28 judges would be left by the second week of July. For this reason, first these two judges should be appointed in the Supreme Court.
Center approved in 48 hours
A proposal was sent to the Central Government for the appointment of these two judges by the collegium. The Center approved the names of both of them within 48 hours without delay. Along with this, President Draupadi Murmu has also issued the letter of appointment of both the judges.
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tenure of both judges
Born on May 16, 1966, Vishwanathan will serve as a judge of the Supreme Court till May 25, 2031. Justice Mishra, on the other hand, is currently the Chief Justice of the Andhra Pradesh High Court. He assumed office on October 13, 2021. Prior to this, he served as the Acting Chief Justice of the Chhattisgarh High Court and as a Judge of the Chhattisgarh High Court. The collegium, while recommending his name, noted that at present the Chhattisgarh High Court has no representation in the Supreme Court.
Four more posts are going to fall vacant in the second week of July. Justice KM Joseph is due to retire on June 16, 2023, Justice Ajay Rastogi on June 17, Justice V Ramasubramaniam on June 29 and Justice Krishna Murari on July 8.
