New Delhi: Justice Prasanna B Varale was sworn-in as a judge of the Supreme Court. The Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud administered the oath to Justice Varale.
With Justice Varale’s appointment, the apex court has got its third Dalit judge and it also back to its full strength of 34 judges. The other two judges from the Scheduled Caste category are justices B R Gavai and CT Ravikumar. Justice Gavai is in line to become the CJI in May 2025. After justice KG Balakrishnan, justice Gavai will be the second Dalit to become the CJI following the retirement of justice Khanna on May 3, 2025. He will remain in that post till November 23, 2025.
On Wednesday, Centre notified the appointment of Karnataka High Court's Chief Justice Prasanna B Varale, as a judge of the apex court.
Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal, in a post on X, said: “In exercise of the powers conferred by the Constitution of India, Hon’ble President, after consultation with Hon’ble Chief Justice of India, is pleased to appoint Justice Prasanna Bhalachandra Varale, Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court as Judge of Supreme Court of India”.
On January 19, the Supreme Court collegium headed by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud had recommended for elevation of Justice Varale, as a judge of the apex court.
The collegium also comprises justices Sanjiv Khanna, B R Gavai, Surya Kant, and Aniruddha Bose. A vacancy arose after the retirement of Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul on December 25, 2023. The collegium said it decided to fill up the sole existing vacancy by recommending Justice Varale. Since the workload of judges has increased considerably, it has become necessary to ensure that the court has full working judge-strength at all times, it added.
Justice Prasanna B Varale was appointed as a Judge of the High Court of Bombay on 18 July 2008. He was elevated as Chief Justice of the High Court of Karnataka on 15 October 2022 and has been performing very well there. “Mr Justice Prasanna B Varale has acquired considerable experience as a Judge of the High Court of Bombay and as the Chief Justice of the High Court of Karnataka for more than a year. The judgments authored by him deal with a variety of issues in every field of law. He is a competent judge with unimpeachable conduct and integrity and has throughout maintained a high standard of professional ethics”, said the collegium, in a statement on January 19.
The collegium took note of the fact that Justice Varale is senior-most Judge belonging to a Scheduled Caste and the only Chief Justice belonging to a Scheduled Caste among the chief justices of high courts across the country. Justice Varale stood at serial number six in the combined all India seniority of high court Judges. In the seniority of Judges of the High Court of Bombay, he is the senior-most judge.
Read More
- SC Gets a New Judge: Centre Notifies Elevation of Karnataka HC Chief Justice
- 'Cheap Dramatics, Nonsense': AM Singhvi And Dushyant Dave Heated Exchange in SC
