• Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna administered the oath of office to Patna High Court Chief Justice K. Vinod Chandran as a judge of the Supreme Court.

• With the swearing-in of Justice Chandran, the working strength of the Supreme Court has risen to 33 against the sanctioned 34 judges, including the Chief Justice.

• On January 13, the Centre had cleared the proposal of the Supreme Court collegium recommending Justice Chandran as judge of the Supreme Court.

• The five-judge collegium led by Chief Justice Khanna, in a meeting held on January 7, recommended the name of Justice Chandran.

• Justice Chandran, 61, began his legal career after earning his law degree from Kerala Law Academy Law College, Thiruvananthapuram and started practising law in 1991.

• He was elevated as an additional judge of the Kerala High Court in November 2011 and became a permanent judge in June 2013. In March 2023, he was appointed as the Chief Justice of the Patna High Court.

• While recommending his name, the collegium took into consideration the fact that there is no representation on the bench of the Supreme Court from the High Court of Kerala.

What is the collegium system?

• The collegium system is a forum including the Chief Justice of India and four senior-most judges of the SC, which recommends appointments and transfers of judges. 

• Judges of the higher judiciary are appointed only through the collegium system, and the government has a role only after names have been decided by the collegium.

Appointment of SC judges

• The CJI and judges of the Supreme Court are appointed by the President under clause (2) of Article 124 of the Constitution.

• Whenever a vacancy is expected to arise in the office of a judge of the Supreme Court, the CJI will initiate a proposal and forward his recommendation to the law minister to fill up the vacancy.

• The opinion of the CJI for appointment of a judge of the Supreme Court should be formed in consultation with a collegium of the four senior-most judges of the apex court.

• The opinion of members of the collegium in respect of each of the recommendations as well as the senior-most judge in the Supreme Court from the High Court from which a prospective candidate comes, would be made in writing. The CJI must transmit his opinion as also the opinion of all concerned to the government of India as part of record.

• After receipt of the final recommendation of the CJI, the law minister will put up the recommendations to the Prime Minister, who will advise the President in the matter of appointment.

Additional read:

First Judges Case, Second Judges Case & Third Judges Case

The collegium system evolved based on three Supreme Court judgments — usually referred to as the ‘Judges Cases’.

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