The Supreme Court of India has now regained its full strength after it got two new judges with Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra, the chief Justice of Andhra Pradesh High Court, and senior lawyer Kalpathy Venkataraman Viswanathan were sworn-in as judges on Friday, May 19. They were administered oath of office by Chief Justice of India, DY Chandrachud.
The court's full strength will last for a brief period as three judges--Justices KM Joseph, Ajay Rastogi and V Ramasubramaniam--will be demitting office during summer vacation.
Court's strength fell after retirements of two judges
Following the retirements of Justices Dinesh Maheshwari and MR Shah, the current strength had reduced to 32 as against sanctioned strength of 34.
Warrant of appointment announced by new law minister
President Droupadi Murmu, on Thursday, according to reports, signed the warrant of appointment of Justice Mishra and Vishwanathan and their appointments were annoucned by new union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal.
Reportedly, Justice Vishwanathan will become Chief Justice of India after Justice JB pardiwala retires on August 11, 2030 and he will hold the post until May 25, 2031.
Collegium recommended their appointment
The Supreme Court Collegium--headed by CJI Chandrachud--had recommended their appointment on May 16.
(To receive our E-paper on WhatsApp daily, please click here. To receive it on Telegram, please click here. We permit sharing of the paper's PDF on WhatsApp and other social media platforms.)