The Supreme Court Collegium on January 19 recommended Karnataka High Court Chief Justice Prasanna Bhalachandra Varale for appointment as judge of the apex court.
Justice Varale has been serving as the Chief Justice of the High Court of Karnataka since 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.
If his appointment goes through, Justice Varale would fill the sole vacancy which has arisen in the apex court following the retirement of Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul on December 25.
The Collegium, consequent to the elevation of Justice Varale to the top court, has suggested Justice Pratinidhi Srinivasacharya Dinesh Kumar to take over as the Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court.
Justice Kumar is due to demit office on superannuation on February 24, 2024. If appointed as Chief Justice, he would have a tenure of a little over a month.
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.
‘Unimpeachable conduct’
Justice Varale, whom the Collegium described as a judge of “unimpeachable conduct and integrity” with 23 years’ legal practice before his appointment as a High Court judge, stands sixth in the combined all India seniority list of High Court judges.
In its resolution, the apex court Collegium headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud 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 noted.
The sanctioned judicial strength of the court is 34.
“The Supreme Court of India has operated almost throughout last year with 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 resolution said.
