Supreme Court Gets 2 New Judges, Gains Full Strength For Brief Period

The Supreme Court of India today got two new judges as Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra, the chief justice of the Andhra Pradesh High Court, and senior lawyer Kalpathy Venkataraman Viswanathan, were administered the oath of office by Chief Justice of India DY Chadrachud on Friday. The Supreme Court is now at its full strength of 34 judges.The warrant of appointment of Justice Mishra and Viswanathan as judges of the top court was issued from the office of President Droupadi Murmu on Thursday and the appointments were announced by new Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal on Twitter.The swearing-in ceremony was streamed live on the Supreme Court’s website.The Supreme Court Collegium had recommended their appointment on May 16.The collegium headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud and comprising Justices SK Kaul, KM Joseph, Ajay Rastogi, and Sanjiv Khanna considered that there was only one member from the bar directly appointed to the Supreme Court bench while making the recommendation.”In their considered opinion, Mr KV Viswanathan, Senior Advocate is eminently suitable for being appointed as a Judge of the Supreme Court,” the resolution read.