‘In exercise of the powers conferred by the Constitution of India, Hon’ble President, after consultation with Hon’ble Chief Justice of India, is pleased to appoint Shri Justice Prasanna Bhalachandra Varale, Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court as Judge of Supreme Court of India on January 24, 2024.’ was the announcement Minister of Law and Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal yesterday.
With this appointment, the Supreme Court will once again function at its full-strength of 34 judges including Chief Justice Of India. This vacancy was formed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul who retired in December last year.
The Collegium said that Justice Varale, whose parent High Court is the Bombay High Court, is a “competent judge with unimpeachable conduct and integrity and has throughout maintained high standard of professional ethics” with 23 years of legal practice before his appointment as a High Court judge. The Collegium also underlined that it has taken into consideration the fact that Justice Varale belongs to the Scheduled Caste and ranks sixth in the All-India list of seniority of High Court judges.
WHO IS JUSTICE PRASANNA BHALACHANDRA VARALE?
Justice Varale was born on 23 June 1962 at Nipani in Karnataka. He graduated in Arts and Law from Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University. He enrolled as an Advocate in 1985.
He was appointed as an Additional Judge of the Bombay High Court in July 2008 and became a permanent judge three years later.
Varale served as a judge in the Bombay High Court for a tenure of 14 years and was subsequently appointed as the Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court in October 2022.
Distinguished as the sole Chief Justice among High Courts hailing from the Scheduled Caste, he proudly asserts his birth in a family “blessed by Dr. B R Ambedkar.”
Justice Varale is notably recognized for proactively initiating Suo-moto cases in the public interest. He has consistently held the Maharashtra and Karnataka governments accountable for their actions, frequently questioning their conduct and Under his leadership, the Karnataka High Court demonstrated a commitment to addressing various issues by leveraging news reports, posing challenging inquiries to the administration, and imposing penalties on officials found at fault.
