NEW DELHI: The Union law ministry on Monday notified the appointment of Justice Krishnan Vinod Chandran, Chief Justice of Patna HC, as a judge of Supreme Court with effect from the date he assumes charge of his office. In another order, the govt appointed Justice Ashutosh Kumar, judge of Patna HC, as acting chief justice of that high court with effect from the date Justice Chandran relinquishes charge of his office.
Justice Chandran’s elevation to the apex court came within a week of his name being recommended by the SC collegium on Jan 7. The collegium, led by CJI Sanjiv Khanna, took into consideration the fact that there was no representation in the SC from the high court of Kerala. Justice Chandran’s parent high court is Kerala HC, and the last judge from that HC on the SC bench was Justice C T Ravikumar, who retired on Jan 5.
Justice Chandran was recommended by the SC collegium in Dec 2022 to be appointed as chief justice of Gauhati HC. However, three months later, it recalled the recommendation and passed a fresh resolution for his appointment as Patna HC chief justice. He took charge as Patna HC CJ on March 29, 2023. Justice Chandran was the senior-most judge from Kerala HC and stood at 13th in the all-India seniority list of HC judges. tnn