The Supreme Court collegium has recommended the names of Justice Swatanter Kumar [pictured], Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court and Justice Chandramauli Kumar Prasad of the Allahabad High Court for elevation to the Supreme Court.

The collegium, with Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan at the helm, approved the names in a meeting held last week.

Born December 31, 1947, Justice Kumar enrolled as an advocate with the Delhi Bar Council in 1971. He served as an Additional Judge of the Delhi High Court and was appointed a permanent judge in the Punjab & Haryana High Court in 1995. In 2004, he was transferred to Delhi and subsequently appointed as Chief Justice of Bombay High Court in early 2007.

Justice Prasad was born on 15 July, 1949 and enrolled as an advocate in 1973, practicing in the Patna High Court. He was elevated as a permanent judge of the Patna High Court in 1994, but was transferred almost immediately to the Madhya Pradesh High Court. He was transferred back to the Patna High Court in 2001, where he briefly assumed charge as the Acting Chief Justice in May 2008, and again in December 2008. He was elevated to the post of Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court in March 2009.

Once the appointment of the two judges is complete, the Supreme Court will be 28 Judges strong. However, the Court is still missing a female judge, since Justice Ruma Pal's retirement in 2006.

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