JUSTICE K.V. VISWANATHAN
Date of Birth : 26-05-1966
Assumed Office : 19-05-2023
Retires on: 25-05-2031
Justice Kalpathy Venkataraman Viswanathan was born on May 26, 1966, in Kalpathy, Kerala. He completed his law degree at Coimbatore Law College and enrolled at the Bar in 1988. That same year, he moved to Delhi to practice at the Supreme Court.
In his early legal career, Justice Viswanathan worked as a junior under Senior Advocates C.S. Vaidyanathan and K.K. Venugopal from 1988 to 1995. After 20 years of practice, he was designated a Senior Advocate in 2009.
He represented clients in several notable cases. For instance, he argued on behalf of the Internet Freedom Foundation in the challenge to WhatsApp’s privacy policy in India. In the recent marriage equality cases, he advocated for recognizing the rights of transgender individuals and validating marriages involving trans persons.
Justice Viswanathan also served as an amicus curiae in various cases. He assisted the Supreme Court in monitoring judicial appointments in the lower courts across Gujarat, Karnataka, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Kerala.
On May 16, 2023, the Supreme Court Collegium recommended Justice Viswanathan’s elevation to the Bench. The Union approved the recommendation on May 18, and he was sworn in as a Supreme Court judge on May 19, 2023.
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Justice Viswanathan is set to serve a tenure of nearly eight years in the Supreme Court. If the convention of seniority is maintained, he is expected to become India’s 58th Chief Justice in 2030.
His appointment marks him as the fourth Chief Justice to be elevated directly from the Bar, following former Chief Justices S.M. Sikri, U.U. Lalit, and sitting Justice P.S. Narasimha.