Justice PB Varale sworn-in as SC judge, apex court gets full strength
New Delhi (PTI): Karnataka High Court Chief Justice P B Varale was on Thursday administered the oath of office as a Supreme Court judge by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud here.
The swearing in function was held in the Supreme Court premises, a day after the Centre cleared his name for judgeship.
With the swearing in, the top court has attained its full strength of 34 judges, including the Chief Justice of India, and would for the first time have three sitting judges from the Dalit community. The other two sitting judges from the Scheduled Caste community are Justices B R Gavai and C T Ravikumar.
While recommending Justice Varale's name earlier this month, a five-judge SC Collegium headed by CJI Chandrachud said it took into consideration the fact that he is among the senior-most high court judges and is the only high court chief justice from the Scheduled Caste.
A vacancy arose in the apex court following the retirement of Justice S K Kaul on December 25 last year.
Justice Varale's appointment came within a week of the SC Collegium recommending his name.
"In exercise of powers conferred by clause (2) of Article 124 of the Constitution of India, the President is pleased to appoint Shri Justice Prasanna Bhalachandra Varale, Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court, to be a Judge of the Supreme Court of India, with effect from the date he assumes charge of his office," a law ministry notification read.
While recommending Justice Varale's name, the collegium had observed that the Supreme Court had operated almost throughout last year with full strength of 34 judges and, therefore, could achieve the distinction of recording an unprecedented rate of disposal by disposing of 52,191 cases in the calendar year 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 had noted.
Born on June 23, 1962, Justice Varale was appointed as a judge of the High Court of Bombay on July 18, 2008, and elevated as the chief justice of the High Court of Karnataka on October 15, 2022.
Justice Varale's elevation to the apex court would take the representation of Bombay High Court in the Supreme Court to four. The other three judges having the parent high court of Bombay are CJI Chandrachud, Justices Gavai and Abhay S Oka.
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Plea about 'threat' to Rahul Gandhi filed without his consent, to be withdrawn: Lawyer
Pune, Aug 13 (PTI): Hours after filing a plea in a court here claiming apprehension of threat to Rahul Gandhi from the followers of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, the Congress leader's lawyer on Wednesday said it was filed without Gandhi's consent, and would be withdrawn.
He will submit another application on Thursday to withdraw the `Pursis' or the application filed before Judicial Magistrate (First Class) Amol Shinde, said Advocate Milind Pawar.
Pawar is representing Rahul Gandhi in a defamation case filed by Satyaki Savarkar, grand-nephew of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, over certain statements made by the Congress leader against the late freedom fighter and Hindutva ideologue.
He drafted the application without consulting Gandhi and the latter has taken a "strong exception to the filing of this Pursis and expressed his disagreement with its contents", the lawyer said in a press release late in the evening.
The application filed by advocate Pawar earlier in the day said that complainant Satyaki Savarkar had admitted that he is also a direct descendant, through maternal lineage, of Nathuram Godse and Gopal Godse, principal accused in the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi.
Gandhi is the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and recently held a press conference in Delhi, placing before the nation evidence of electoral fraud by the Election Commission, the application said.
"Furthermore, during the parliamentary debate on the subject of Hindutva, there was a heated exchange between the Prime Minister and Shri Rahul Gandhi, a matter well known to the public. Against this backdrop, there is little doubt that the complainant, his great-grandfathers (the Godses), those connected with the ideology of Vinayak Savarkar, and some followers of Savarkar who are presently in power, may harbor hostility or resentment towards Gandhi," the application said.
"In light of the documented history of violent and anti-constitutional tendencies linked to the complainant's lineage, and considering the prevailing political climate, there exists a clear, reasonable, and substantial apprehension that Rahul Gandhi may face harm, wrongful implication, or other forms of targeting by persons subscribing to the ideology of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar," the application stated.
The Pune court has already granted bail to Rahul Gandhi in the defamation case. The trial is yet to begin.
Reacting to the development, Advocate Sangram Kolhatkar, Satyaki Savarkar's lawyer, asked why the application was filed in the first place. "This is nothing but an attempt to delay the trial by moving such frivolous pleas," he said.
Satyaki Savarkar has filed a defamation complaint against Rahul Gandhi, alleging that in a speech made in London in March 2023, the Congress leader claimed that V D Savarkar had written in a book that he and five to six of his friends once beat up a Muslim man and he (Savarkar) felt happy.
No such incident ever took place, and V D Savarkar never wrote any such thing anywhere, the complaint claimed.
