SC collegium recommends Karnataka HC Chief Justice Prasanna B Varale’s elevation as top court judge

PTI, Jan 19, 2024, 6:29 PM IST

Representative image (source: PTI)

New Delhi: The Supreme Court collegium headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud on Friday recommended the elevation of Karnataka High Court Chief Justice Prasanna B Varale as a top court judge.

In a meeting held on Friday, the collegium, also comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna, B R Gavai, Surya Kant, and Aniruddha Bose, took into consideration the fact that he is among the senior-most High Court judges and is the only HC chief justice from the Scheduled Caste.

“We are also conscious of the fact that at present, there are three Judges from the High Court of Bombay on the Bench of the Supreme Court. The Collegium, therefore, unanimously resolves to recommend that Mr Justice Prasanna B Varale be appointed as a Judge of the Supreme Court of India,” the collegium said.

The collegium took note of the vacancy that arose on the retirement of Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul on December 25, 2023.

“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 has, therefore, decided to fill up the sole existing vacancy by recommending a name,” it said.