Justice Narasimha becomes new member of SC collegium

Justice P. S. Narasimha will join the Supreme Court Collegium following Justice J. K. Maheshwari's retirement. As the fifth senior-most judge, he will serve on the Collegium until May 2028, participating in key decisions on judicial appointments and transfers

New Delhi: Justice P S Narasimha is set to become a member of the Supreme Court Collegium with the retirement of Justice J K Maheshwari on Sunday.

Being the fifth senior-most judge, Justice Narasimha will officially be a part of the Collegium until he retires on May 2, 2028. Justice Maheshwari retired on Sunday, demitting office after a nearly five-year tenure.

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The Collegium will now comprise Chief Justice Surya Kant, Justice Vikram Nath, Justice B V Nagarathna, Justice M M Sundresh and Justice P S Narasimha. Under the Collegium system, which came into existence in 1993 after a Supreme Court judgement, five top judges of the apex court recommend the appointment, transfer and elevation of judges to the Supreme Court and 25 high courts.

The government can return the recommendation to the Collegium under this system. While it usually accepts the recommendation if it is reiterated by the Collegium, there have been cases when the government returned the file or did not respond to the recommendation.

Born on May 3, 1963, in Hyderabad, Justice Narasimha graduated with triple majors in economics, political science and public administration from the Nizam College, Hyderabad, and pursued law at the Campus Law Centre, Delhi University, in 1988.

Enrolled as an advocate in the same year, he practised in the high court, civil courts and tribunals in Hyderabad, before shifting his counsel practice to the Supreme Court.

He appeared in a large number of cases before the Supreme Court, including those of the Constitution benches. During this time, he was appointed the commission counsel for the Justice Chinnappa Reddy Commission. He was also a member of the Supreme Court Legal Aid Committee.

Justice Narasimha was designated as a senior advocate by the full court of the Supreme Court in 2008. As a senior advocate, he appeared in many public law cases involving constitutional, administrative and environmental issues.

He was appointed the additional solicitor general of India in 2014. During that time, he assisted the court as a law officer in several landmark cases, including the NJAC case before a Constitution bench.

He was also part of a Supreme Court delegation to the Canadian Supreme Court, where he presented a paper on extradition and the environment. Justice Narasimha was elevated as a Supreme Court judge directly from the Bar on August 31, 2021.