Supreme Court Collegium unanimously recommends appointement of Justice K. Vinod Chandran as a judge of the Supreme Court of India

The Supreme Court Collegium in its meeting held on January 7, 2025 unanimously recommended that Justice K. Vinod Chandran be appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court of India. Justice Chandran was due to retire as Chief Justice of Patna High Court on April 24, 2025. He is the 16th person from Kerala to become a Supreme Court judge. After the retirement of Justice C.T. Ravikumar on January 5, 2025, there is no judge from Kerala at the Supreme Court.

Justice K. Vinod Chandran was appointed as a Judge of the Kerala High Court on  November 8, 2011 and was elevated as the Chief Justice of the Patna High Court on March 29, 2023 and has been functioning as the Chief Justice of that High Court since then. He has served as a Judge of the High Court for more than 11 years and as a Chief Justice of a big High Court for more than a year. 

During his long tenure as a Judge and Chief Justice of the High Court, Justice Chandran has acquired significant experience in diverse fields of law. Mr. Justice Chandran stands at 13 in the combined all-India seniority of High Court Judges. In the seniority of Judges hailing from the High Court of Kerala, Justice K. Vinod Chandran stands at 1. 

While recommending his name, the Collegium has taken into consideration the fact that there is no representation on the Bench of the Supreme Court from the High Court of Kerala.

The five-member Supreme Court Collegium is headed by the new Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna.The five-member collegium, which is responsible for recommending judges for the Supreme Court, and High Court judges, comprises of the Chief Justice of India and Justices B R Gavai, Surya Kant, Hrishikesh Roy and A S Oka. In a significant reshuffle, a three-member Collegium ahas been established and made responsible for appointing High Court judges, comprising the Chief Justice of India, Justices Gavai and Surya Kant.

Justice Ashutosh Kumar, the senior most judge of the Patna High Court is likely to take charge as the Acting Chief Justice of Patna High Court. Justice Kumar has been a judge of the Delhi High Court. He is due to retire on November 24, 2017.