Supreme Court’s Collegium expects discussion regarding the names for the appointment of Supreme Court judges

Supreme Court’s Collegium is expected to discuss the name for the appointment of Supreme Court judges to fill its sanctioned strength of 34 judges. During the summer vacation, Justices KM Joseph and Ajay Rastogi retired on June 16 and 17 respectively leaving the total strength of the Collegium to three. In order to fulfill the five-member collegium, Justice Surya Kant and Justice BR Gavai were appointed as the new members of the Collegium on July 01, 2023. The other members of the Collegium include Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justice Sanjiv Khanna, and Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul. Presently, the Supreme Court has a total of 31 judges whereas one other judge, Justice Krishna Murari, is set to retire on 8 July 2023. After his retirement, the total strength will become 30 resulting in four vacancies. It has been anticipated that the discussion on the appointment of judges and to finalize the names to be appointed as Supreme Court judges is scheduled in the current week. 

In an earlier notice issued by the Supreme Court, Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra, and Senior Advocate KV Viswanathan were recommended for the appointment as Supreme Court judges. It was worth mentioning that Advocate Viswanathan is the only one member of the Bar directly appointed to the Supreme Court bench. The notice also mentioned that “On the retirement of Justice JB Pardiwala on 11 August 2023, Shri Viswanathan would be in line to assume office as the Chief Justice of India till retirement on 25 May 2031.”