President appoints Andhra HC chief justice, senior advocate as SC judges
President Droupadi Murmu on Thursday appointed Prashant Kumar Mishra, the chief justice of the Andhra Pradesh High Court, as a judge of the Supreme Court.
The president also appointed senior advocate Kalpathy Venkataraman Viswanathan as a judge of the apex court.
The appointments were announced by new Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal on Twitter.
With the retirements of Justice Dinesh Maheshwari and Justice M R Shah, the current strength of judges in the Supreme Court had fallen to 32 as against the sanctioned strength of 34.
Both Mishra and Viswanathan are scheduled to take the oath of office on Friday, which will take the strength of judges in the apex court to 34.
Viswanathan could be the Chief Justice of India in 2030 following seven other judges in line after Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud.
The appointment of the two new judges has taken place within 48 hours of their recommendation by the Supreme Court Collegium.
Viswanthan will join the elite list of lawyers who went