SC gets new judges; Justice Prashant Mishra, KV Viswanathan take oath

NEW DELHI: Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra and senior advocate KV Viswanathan on Friday were sworn in as Supreme Court judges. Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud administered the oath of office to them.

The Supreme Court Collegium on May 16 recommended Andhra Pradesh High Court Chief Justice Mishra and Viswanathan to be elevated as judges of the apex court and the Centre on Thursday cleared their names.

The Collegium presided by CJI Chandrachud and Justices SK Kaul, KM Joseph, Ajay Rastogi and Sanjiv Khanna, took the decision to recommend the name of Justice Mishra and Viswanathan for appointment as judges of the top court.

Born on May 26, 1966, Viswanathan on his appointment as a judge of the Supreme Court would serve in that capacity until May 25, 2031. On the retirement of Justice JB Pardiwala on August 11, 2030, Viswanathan will be in line to assume Chief Justice of India's office till his retirement on May 25, 2031.

Viswanathan has become the tenth name in the list of lawyers to be appointed to the Supreme Court directly from the Bar. He will also be the fourth such person to become the Chief Justice of India, following Justices SM Sikri, UU Lalit, and PS Narasimha.

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, a former Additional Solicitor General, 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. Justice Mishra was appointed as a judge of the High Court of Chhattisgarh on December 10, 2009. He was appointed as the Chief Justice of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh on October 13, 2021.

In its resolution, the Collegium noted that there is no representation of the High Court of Chhattisgarh in the present composition of the Supreme Court of India. Justice Mishra has served as a judge of the High Court for over thirteen years and ranks at serial number 21 in the All-India Seniority List of judges of the High Courts, the resolution stated.

The apex court currently has a sanctioned strength of 34 judges and was functioning with 32. Now, the top court will be at full strength. Four vacancies are going to arise by the second week of July.