KV Viswanathan is an Indian judge who was sworn in as a judge of the Supreme Court of India on May 19, 2023. He was sworn in by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud at the Supreme Court Auditorium of India.
Wiki/Biography
KV Viswanathan, also known as Kalpathy Venkataraman Viswanathan, was born on Thursday, May 26, 1966 in Kalpathy, Palakkad, Kerala (age 57; as of 2023). His zodiac sign is Gemini. Viswanathan was born into a family of lawyers and decided to pursue a career in law while in college. He studied for a five-year integrated law degree at the Coimbatore College of Law (First Batch), Bharatiyar University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. During his college years, Viswanathan worked as a legal intern at the law firm of KA Ramachandran, a criminal trial lawyer in Coimbatore. In 1988, he was admitted to the Bar Council of India.
appearance
Height (approximately): 5′7″
Hair color: salt and pepper (dyed black)
Eye color: dark brown
family
He comes from a Malayan family.
Parents and siblings
Little is known about his parents and siblings.
Profession
After joining the Bar Council of India in 1988, Viswanathan moved to New Delhi and started practicing in the law firm of senior advocate CS Vaidyanathan, who subsequently served as Solicitor General of India. He practiced law under Vaidyanathan for about two years and later joined the chamber of senior advocate KK Venugopal (who later became the Attorney General of India) and practiced law for the next five years. After approximately two decades of practice, Viswanathan was appointed Senior Advocate by the Supreme Court of India in April 2009. Thereafter, KV Viswanathan appeared in a wide range of cases in different legal branches including Constitutional Law, Criminal Law, etc. , Commercial Law, Insolvency Law and Arbitration by the Supreme Court and High Courts of India. In 2013, he was appointed Solicitor General of India in the UPA-II government.
KV Viswanathan in his room
His status as a distinguished member of the Supreme Court Bar was recognized by the Supreme Court in various cases and he was appointed as a friend of the Supreme Court. On May 16, 2023, the Supreme Court bench comprising CJI DY Chandrachud and Justices SK Kaul, KM Joseph, Ajay Rastogi and Sanjiv Khanna passed a resolution recommending the appointment of KV Viswanathan as a judge of the Supreme Court of India directly from the bar. The resolution stated that
The appointment of Shri KV Viswanathan will enhance the representation of the Bar in the constitution of the Supreme Court. Shri Viswanathan is a distinguished member of the Supreme Court Bar Association. His vast experience and profound knowledge will provide significant added value to the Supreme Court. “
Following the appointment order issued by President Droupadi Murmu, KV Viswanathan was sworn in as a Supreme Court judge on May 19, 2023, becoming the tenth lawyer to be appointed as a Supreme Court judge directly from the Bar. The other nine judges are SM Sikri, SC Roy, Kuldip Singh, Santosh Hegde, Rohinton Fali Nariman, UU Lalit, L Nageswara Rao, Indu Malhotra and PS Narasimha. Moreover, after the retirement of Justice JB Pardiwala on August 11, 2023, he will become the Chief Justice of India (CJI); he will be the fourth after Justice SM Sikri, Justice UU Lalit and Justice PS Narasimha Counsel who became the Chief Justice of India.
KV Viswanathan addresses colleagues at an event
Facts/Trivia
- He visited several law schools in India as a visiting professor to interact with law students and provide them with practical advice on joining the profession.
KV Viswanathan guest lectures at Narsal University
- Viswanathan has around 32 years of legal experience and has acted as counsel in many high-profile cases.
- KV Viswanathan is a member of the Editorial Board of Supreme Court Cases (SCC).
- In 2013, he was felicitated at an event organized by Amiti Law College, Noida.
KV Viswanathan felicitated at Amiti Law College, Noida
- In a 2014 interview, Viswanathan spoke of the need to set standards such as the pro bono work carried out and the minimum number of judgment reports for judges to be promoted to higher judiciary. He said,
The amount of income tax paid alone cannot be relied upon. Experts in areas such as criminal law and taxation must also be considered. There must be diversity. In Britain, a number of people of Asian descent have been appointed. Mr. Rabindra Singh deserves praise for his appointment as a High Court Judge at the age of forty-seven. In addition to merit, they also focus on diversity. We also need to consider this because we are a diverse society. “
- Previously, in October 2022, the Supreme Court Committee headed by Chief Justice of India UU Lalit decided to recommend him as a Supreme Court judge. However, collegiate bench members DY Chandrachud and Abdul Nazeer (retd) expressed reservations over procedural issues and did not sign on to the recommendation.
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education