Supreme Court Collegium Recommends Andhra Pradesh Chief Justice P.K.Mishra, Senior Adv KV Viswanathan As Supreme Court Judges.
(Judicial Quest News Network)
Hyderabad : ( 16, May 2023), The Supreme Court Collegium has recommended the names of Chief Justice of Andhra Pradesh High Court Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra and Senior Advocate KV Viswanathan as Judges of the Supreme Court.
The Collegium headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud and comprising Justices SK Kaul, KM Joseph, Ajay Rastogi and Sanjiv Khanna recommended the elevations.
The Supreme Court of India has a sanctioned strength of thirty-four Judges and is presently functioning with thirty-two Judges. Thus, there are two clear vacancies. With four more vacancies which are going to arise by the second week of July the working strength of Judges would come to twenty-eight. The Collegium has, however, unanimously.
The Collegium resolved to recommend, for the present, names to fill up the two existing vacancies.
Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra was appointed as a judge of the High Court of Chhattisgarh on 10 December 2009. He was appointed as the Chief Justice of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh on 13 October 2021. There is no representation to the High Court of Chhattisgarh in the present composition of the Supreme Court of India.
Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra, B.Sc., L.L.B., was born on August 29, 1964 and enrolled as an Advocate on September 4, 1987. Practiced in the District Court, Madhya Pradesh High Court and Chhattisgarh High Court in Civil, Constitutional, Revenue and criminal matters. His field of specialization is Constitutional and Civil matters. He served as Additional Advocate General and Advocate General for the State of Chhattisgarh. He was appointed as an Additional Judge of the Chhattisgarh High Court on December 10, 2009 and as Permanent Judge November 28, 2014.
Having regard to the fact that at present there is only one member from the Bar directly appointed to the Supreme Court Bench, the Collegium has also considered the names of eminent members of the Bar. In their considered opinion, Mr K V Viswanathan, Senior Advocate is eminently suitable for being appointed as a Judge of the Supreme Court. The appointment of Shri K V Viswanathan will enhance the representation to the Bar in the composition of the Supreme Court. Shri Viswanathan is a distinguished member of the Bar of the Supreme Court. His wide experience and profound knowledge will provide a significant value addition to the Supreme Court.
K V Viswanathan completed the five-year integrated law degree from Coimbatore Law College, Bharathiyar University and enrolled with the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu in 1988. After practising before the Supreme Court for over two decades, he was designated as a senior advocate in 2009. Viswanathan has appeared in a wide range of cases on diverse subjects including Constitutional law, criminal law, commercial law, the law of Insolvency, and Arbitration. His stature as an eminent member of the Bar has been recognised by the Supreme Court in numerous cases where he was appointed to assist the Court as amicus curiae. Shri Viswanathan has a sound understanding of law and is known in the legal fraternity for his integrity and as an upright senior member of the Bar. K V Viswanathan was born on 26 May 1966 and on his appointment as a judge of the Supreme Court would serve in that capacity until 25 May 2031. On the retirement of Justice Jamshed Burjor Pardiwala on 11 August 2030, Shri Viswanathan would be in line to assume office as the Chief Justice of India till his retirement on 25 May 2031. In view of the foregoing, the Collegium further resolves to recommend that the appointments of the above persons be made in the following order of seniority
