Kerala High Court gets seven new judges including two ex-Supreme Court Registrars

Seven new judges took oath in the Kerala High Court yesterday. The new appointments mean that the High Court will function at its approved strength of 38 judges. As per the latest judiciary statistics, the High Court had a working strength of 31, with 7 vacancies as of April 1..Four of the judges – Justices Sunil Thomas, B Sudheendrakumar, Mary Joseph and KP Jyoteendranath have been appointed from the subordinate judiciary; while three of them – Shaji P Chaly, Anu Sivaraman and Raja Vijayaraghavan have made the switch from the Bar..Sunil Thomas was appointed as a District Judge in 2001. He had his first stint as Additional District and Sessions Judge, Thrissur, till 2005, and was made a Registrar in the Supreme Court in 2007..B Sudheendrakumar is the first person from Kerala to hold the post of Registrar in the Supreme Court. He was appointed as Additional District Judge at Thiruvananthapuram in 2001..Mary Joseph was district government pleader and public prosecutor for more than three years, after which she was appointed as judge of the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal in 2001. Her last appointment was Principal District Judge at Palakkad..KP Jyoteendranath started his career in the judiciary as an MACT judge in 2001. He became an Additional District Judge in Thiruvananthapuram and later moved to Ernakulam as special judge in the CBI Court. In July 2011, he was appointed as the Principal District Judge in Thrissur and served there till March 2014..Shaji P Chaly has been practising as an advocate since January 1986, and has served as the President of the Kerala High Court Advocate Association..Anu Sivaraman is the daughter of former Kerala High Court Judge V Sivaraman Nair and was Senior Government Pleader in the High Court during 2006-2010..Raja Vijaya Raghavan started his career in the chambers of his father, senior advocate P Vijayaraghavan. Raghavan was the standing counsel for the Indian School Certificate Examinations..With these appointments, the High Court is operating at full approved strength, a position that is not enjoyed by most other High Courts in the country.