CJI DY Chandrachud will retire in November 2024. If we look at the seniority list of the Supreme Court, Justice KV Vishwanathan is also included in the list of judges who are going to become CJI by 2030. Justice Vishwanathan was promoted from a lawyer to a Supreme Court judge last year. He is in line to become the 58th Chief Justice of India in August 2030. He will remain in the CJI chair for about 10 months and will retire on 25 May 2031.
Justice KV Vishwanathan’s life has been full of ups and downs. His story of rising from a rented room to becoming a junior advocate, then a senior advocate and a Supreme Court judge is interesting.
Who is Justice KV Vishwanathan?
Justice KV Vishwanathan is originally from Pollachi in Tamil Nadu. His full name is Kalpathy Venkataraman Viswanathan. Born on 26 May 1966, Justice Vishwanathan did his early schooling at Pollachi’s Arokia Mata Matriculation School, Sainik School Amaravatinagar and St. Joseph Higher Secondary School. After this, he came to Coimbatore Law College. Here he obtained BA-LLB degree with first rank. Justice Vishwanathan was a student of the first batch of the 5-year law course here.
Journey from a rented room to a senior advocate
After studying law, Vishwanathan enrolled in the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu in 1988 and started practicing. After a few days, he came to Delhi. Here he rented a room with a friend in RK Puram, South Delhi, whose rent was ₹ 200. In an interview, Justice Vishwanathan says that my room was close to the Murugan Temple and I used to eat in Mahalingam Mess. Later I shifted from there to Mohammadpur village and started living with three people.
After coming to Delhi, Vishwanathan joined the chamber of Advocate C.S. Vaidyanathan, who has also been the former Additional Solicitor General of the country. Till 1990, he worked with him in Delhi High Court, Supreme Court and various tribunals. Then in November 1990, he started working with senior advocate and former Attorney General KK Venugopal. KV Vishwanathan was appointed senior advocate on 28 April 2009. After this, he became Additional Solicitor General in the year 2013 and remained on this post till May 2014. Justice Vishwanathan has also been a member of National Legal Services Authority and Supreme Court Legal Services Committee.
Supreme Court judge appointed in May 2023
In May 2023, the Supreme Court Collegium recommended bringing Justice KV Vishwanathan from the bar to the bench. That is, it proposed to make him a judge from a lawyer. After the approval of the central government, KV Vishwanathan was appointed a Supreme Court judge on 19 May 2023. He is the 10th advocate who was made a Supreme Court judge directly from the bar.
Father has also been a famous lawyer
Justice KV Vishwanathan will be the third person from Tamil Nadu to reach the post of Chief Justice of India (CJI). Before him, Justice M. Patanjali Shastri and Justice P. Sathasivam have also been CJI. Justice KV Vishwanathan’s father KV Venkataraman has also been a famous lawyer.
fond of reading books
Justice KV Vishwanathan is fond of reading books. He especially likes non-fiction books. He is also very interested in sports. He likes to watch matches etc. with his family. KV Vishwanathan is the father of two daughters.
Tags: DY Chandrachud, Justice DY Chandrachud, Supreme Court, supreme court of india
FIRST PUBLISHED : June 2, 2024, 16:37 IST