Chief Justice DY Chandrachud on Friday administered the oath of office to Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra and Senior Advocate KV Viswanathan as Supreme Court judges, reported Live Law. With this, the Supreme Court is now at its full strength of 34 judges.
Justice Mishra, who is originally from the Chhattisgarh High Court, was earlier the chief justice of the Andhra Pradesh High Court. While recommending his name for elevation, the collegium had noted that there is no representation in the Supreme Court from the Chhattisgarh High Court.
“During his tenure of nearly 12 years as a judge of the High Court of Chhattisgarh, Justice Mishra has acquired significant experience in diverse fields of law,” the collegium had said. “His judgments cover wide ranging issues pertaining to law and justice.”
Justice Viswanathan is the tenth lawyer who has been directly appointed to the Supreme Court bench from the Bar, reported Live Law. He is also in line to be the chief justice from August 12, 2030, till May 25, 2031.
The Supreme Court collegium had recommended the elevation of the two new judges on May 16, following which, the Centre had notified their appointments within two days. The two new appointments come after Justices Dinesh Maheshwari and MR Shah retired this month.
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