SC gets 2 new judges: CJI administers oath of office to Justice Mishra, senior advocate Viswanathan
New Delhi (PTI): Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra and senior advocate Kalpathy Venkataraman Viswanathan were on Friday administered the oath of office as judges of the Supreme Court by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud.
The new judges were administered the oath of office during a ceremony at the apex court's auditorium.
With the swearing-in of Justice Mishra and Justice Viswanathan, the number of judges in the Supreme Court reached its sanctioned strength of 34.
However, the apex court will be at full strength only for a brief period as Friday is also the last working day of three judges who are set to retire in June.
Justice KM Joseph, Justice Ajay Rastogi and Justice V Ramasubramanian are set to demit office next month during the summer vacation, which will run from May 22 to July 2.
Justice Joseph is set to retire on June 16, Justice Rastogi on June 17 and Justice Ramasubramanian on June 29. Justice Krishna Murari will demit office on July 8.
Justice Viswanathan will become the Chief Justice of India upon the retirement of Justice JB Pardiwala on August 11, 2030, and remain in the post till May 25, 2031.
The warrant of appointments of Justice Mishra and Justice Viswanathan as apex court judges was issued from the office of President Droupadi Murmu on Thursday.
Their appointments were announced by new Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal on Twitter.
With the retirements of Justice Dinesh Maheshwari and Justice MR Shah in the past seven days, the strength of judges in the Supreme Court had fallen to 32.
The collegium headed by the Chief Justice of India on May 16 recommended to the Centre the names of Justice Mishra and senior advocate Viswanathan as apex court judges.
The Centre cleared their appointments within two working days.
Justice Mishra was appointed as a judge of the High Court of Chhattisgarh on December 10, 2009. He was appointed as Chief Justice of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh on October 13, 2021.
He has served as a high court judge for more than 13 years and ranks 21st in the all-India seniority list of judges of high courts.
Justice Viswanathan will become the 58th Chief Justice of India in August 2030 for a period of more than nine months.
Born on May 26, 1966, Justice Viswanathan will join an elite list of lawyers to reach the position of the Chief Justice of India after being directly elevated to the apex court bench from the Bar.
Justice SM Sikri was the first Chief Justice of India to be directly elevated to the apex court bench from the Bar. Justice UU Lalit was the second.
Sitting apex court judge Justice PS Narasimha will become the third Chief Justice of India to be directly elevated from the Bar.
As a lawyer, Justice Viswanathan has appeared in a wide range of cases on diverse issues, including Constitutional, criminal, commercial and insolvency laws and arbitration.
During the recent hearings in the top court on a batch of pleas seeking legal validation for same-sex marriages, Justice Viswanathan had argued before a five-judge Constitution Bench for one of the petitioners.
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Putin meets Iran's FM Araghchi, says Russia ready to do its best to help bring peace to West Asia
Moscow (PTI): Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Monday met Russian President Vladimir Putin, who hailed the Iranian people for fighting bravely and heroically for their sovereignty and said Moscow is ready to do its best to help bring peace to West Asia as soon as possible.
Araghchi, who held talks with Omani and Pakistani leadership before arriving in Russia, met Putin in St. Petersburg and thanked him for supporting Iran, state-owned TASS news agency reported.
"Russia is ready to do everything in its power to ensure that peace in the Middle East is achieved as soon as possible," Putin said during his meeting with Araghchi, which was also attended by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Revealing that he received a message from Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei last week, Putin asked Araghchi to convey his "gratitude for this message and best wishes for his health and well-being."
He praised the Iranian people for fighting "bravely and heroically" for their sovereignty, Iran's state-run PRESS TV reported.
"We really hope that, based on the courage and desire for independence, the Iranian people, under the guidance of the new leader, will weather this difficult period of trials and peace will come,” Putin said.
He also stressed that Russia “intends to maintain” its strategic relations with Iran.
Araghchi said that the world witnessed Iran’s strength in countering the US during the recent war, and that the Islamic Republic is a "stable and powerful establishment."
"With their courage, the Iranian people succeeded in resisting the US aggression and will be able to endure it,” he said.
He said that it became clear that Iran has “great friends and allies” like Russia, and conveyed “warmest greetings” from Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian to the Russian leader.
Araghchi said relations between Moscow and Tehran represent a “strategic partnership at the highest level” and will continue to develop "regardless of circumstances."
"We are grateful to you for the solid and strong positions in support of the Islamic Republic of Iran," he said.
Foreign Minister Lavrov said that the talks between President Putin and the Iranian Foreign Minister were "useful and constructive."
Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov later said that Russia is "ready to provide any good offices, any mediation services that are acceptable to the parties."
"We will be ready to do everything so that ultimately peace ensues, guaranteed peace, and that there is no return to hostilities," Peskov was quoted as saying by TASS.
He was asked how Moscow can assist in future negotiations on the Iranian settlement.
Araghchi arrived in Russia after his whirlwind trip to Islamabad, which, according to him, was “very productive” and involved “good consultations" with Pakistan's Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, amid uncertainty over the second round of peace talks to resolve the war in West Asia.
"We held good consultations with our friends in Pakistan. The trip was successful. We assessed the outcome of our recent (meetings) and discussed in what direction and under what conditions talks can move on,” Araghchi said in a video posted on his Telegram channel upon his arrival in St Petersburg.
Referring to the second round of talks between the US and Iran to resolve the conflict in West Asia, Araghchi said: "Developments have taken place in the negotiations."
"Despite some progress in earlier rounds, the talks failed to reach their objectives due to the Americans' approach, the excessive demands they made, and the wrong approaches they adopted. Therefore, it was necessary to consult with our friends in Pakistan to review the latest situation,” Iran's official news agency IRNA quoted him as saying.
He said that the trip to Pakistan was a good opportunity to review developments related to the US-Israeli war against Iran, expressing confidence that “these consultations and coordination between the two countries will be highly significant.”
Araghchi arrived at St. Petersburg's Pulkovo Airport early Monday, where he was welcomed by Russian officials and Iran’s ambassador to Russia, Kazem Jalali, the report said.
The first round of peace talks between Iran and the US, held on April 11 and 12, failed to bring the desired result for the parties to the conflict.
The Iranian minister arrived in Islamabad for the second time on Sunday after a short visit to Oman, where he held talks with Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said on security in the Strait of Hormuz and diplomatic efforts to end the Iran-US conflict.
After Araghchi left Pakistan for Oman on Saturday, President Donald Trump announced that US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner would no longer be going to Islamabad for talks with Iran, contending that Washington held all the cards on the matter.
Trump on Sunday reiterated that the US and Iranian officials can talk by phone for a peace solution to the conflict.
On Tuesday, Trump extended the two-week ceasefire with Iran indefinitely to give Tehran more time to prepare a unified proposal to end the war, just hours before the truce was set to expire.
The war began when the US and Israel jointly attacked Iran on February 28, killing Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several top commanders. The retaliation by the Islamic Republic extended the war to the entire Gulf region.
