Andhra Pradesh High Court Chief Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra and Senior Advocate KV Viswanathan will be sworn-in as Supreme Court judges tomorrow.
The Supreme Court collegium had recommended their elevation on May 16 and the Central Government has notified their appointments within three days. With their appointment, the Supreme Court will be back to its full strength of 34 judges.
With the recent retirements of Justice Dinesh Maheshwari last week (Sunday, May 12) and Justice MR Shah (Monday, May 15), the current strength of the Supreme Court has fallen to 32 against a sanctioned strength of 34. This includes the chief justice and 33 puisne judges. In the coming months, four more judges are set to retire, creating additional vacancies.
KV Viswanathan, the tenth lawyer who has directly been appointed from the Bar to the Supreme Court bench, is in line to be the Chief Justice of India from August 12, 2030 till May 25, 2031.
Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra’s parent High Court is Chhattisgarh High Court. He was appointed as the Chief Justice of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh on 13 October 2021. While recommending his name, the collegium noted that there is no representation for the Chhattisgarh High Court in the Supreme Court.
“During his tenure of nearly twelve years as a judge of the High Court of Chhattisgarh, Justice Mishra has acquired significant experience in diverse fields of law. His judgments cover wide ranging issues pertaining to law and justice. Besides according representation to the State of Chhattisgarh, the appointment of Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra will provide a value addition in terms of his acquired knowledge and experience. Justice Mishra is a judge with integrity”, the resolution stated.
