By India Blooms News Service May 17, 2023
New Delhi/UNI: The Supreme Court collegium has recommended Chief Justice of Andhra Pradesh High Court Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra and Senior Advocate KV Vishwanathan as Supreme Court judges, as per a document.
The Supreme Court of India has a sanctioned strength of 34 Judges and is presently functioning with 32 Judges.
Thus, there are two vacancies. With four more vacancies which are going to arise by the second week of July the working strength of judges would come to 28.
The five-member Supreme Court collegium, which recommended the names, was headed by the Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dr Dhananjaya Yeshwant Chadrachud and four other seniormost judges--Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, K M Joseph, Ajay Rastogi and Sanjiv Khanna.
The collegium has unanimously resolved to recommend the names of Justice Prashant Mishra and Viswanathan to fill up the two existing vacancies, the SC Collegium saidin a statement.
The collegium deliberated on and discussed the names of Chief Justices and senior Judges of the High Courts eligible for appointment to the Supreme Court, it said.
After carefully evaluating the merit, integrity and competence of eligible Chief Justices and senior Judges of the High Courts and also accommodating a plurality of considerations, the Collegium finds Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra, Chief Justice, Andhra Pradesh High Court to be more deserving and suitable in all respects for being appointed as a Judge of the Supreme Court of India, the SC Collegium said.
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 compositionof 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.
During his tenure of nearly twelve years as a judge of the High Court of Chhattisgarh, Justice Mishra 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.
The Collegium is conscious of the fact that the present Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court who was appointed as a judge on 31 March 2009 is drawn from the parent High Court of Chhattisgarh and ranks senior to Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra.
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, the statement said.
Senior Advocate K V Viswanathan is eminently suitable for being appointed as a Judge of the Supreme Court.
The appointment of Viswanathan will enhance the representation of the Bar in the composition of the Supreme Court.
Viswanathan is a distinguished member of the Bar of the Supreme Court.
His wide experience and profound knowledge will provide significant value addition to the Supreme Court, the SC collegium said.