SC gets new judge; to return to full judicial strength

Justice Varale is scheduled to be sworn in by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud as Supreme Court judge on January 25

Justice Prasanna B. Varale. File

The Union government appointed Karnataka High Court Chief Justice Prasanna Bhalachandra Varale as a judge of the Supreme Court on Thursday.

Justice Varale is scheduled to be sworn in by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud as Supreme Court judge on January 25.

His appointment has filled the sole vacancy in the apex court which had arisen with the retirement of Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul on December 25 last year. The sanctioned judicial strength of the court is 34.

The Supreme Court Collegium had recommended his appointment as an apex court judge in a resolution on January 19. Justice Varale has served as the Chief Justice of the High Court of Karnataka from October 15, 2022. He is currently the only High Court Chief Justice from a Scheduled Caste community. He is also the seniormost High Court judge belonging to a Scheduled Caste.

Justice Varale’s parent High Court is Bombay. He was appointed as a Bombay High Court judge on July 18, 2008. There are already three judges from the Bombay High Court on the Bench of the Supreme Court.

The Collegium resolution said Justice Varale was a judge of “unimpeachable conduct and integrity” with 23 years’ legal practice before his appointment as a High Court judge. Justice Varale was sixth in the combined all India seniority list of High Court judges.

In its resolution, the top court Collegium headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud had reiterated its objective that the Supreme Court should function without even a single vacancy, considering the burden of work.

“Bearing in mind that the workload of judges has increased considerably, it has become necessary to ensure that the court has full working judge strength at all times,” the Collegium resolution had noted.

“The Supreme Court of India has operated almost throughout last year with a full strength of 34 judges and, therefore, could achieve the distinction of recording an unprecedented rate of disposal by disposing of 52,191 cases in the calendar year 2023,” the Collegium resolution had said.