Justice Narasimha to join SC Collegium as Justice Maheshwari retires

📌 Summary:

• Justice P.S. Narasimha will join the Supreme Court Collegium following Justice J.K. Maheshwari''s retirement on June 28; as the fifth senior-most judge he stays on it until he retires on May 2, 2028
• The Collegium now comprises CJI Surya Kant and Justices Vikram Nath, B.V. Nagarathna, M.M. Sundresh and P.S. Narasimha
• Under the Collegium system (from a 1993 SC judgment), the five senior-most judges recommend appointments, transfers and elevations to the SC and 25 High Courts
• The government may return a recommendation; it usually accepts upon reiteration, though there have been cases of files returned or not acted upon
• Justice Narasimha: born 1963 in Hyderabad; former Additional Solicitor General (2014); assisted in the NJAC case; elevated to the SC directly from the Bar on Aug 31, 2021

🎯 UPSC Relevance: GS2 — judiciary, appointment of judges, and the Collegium-versus-executive (NJAC) debate.

📝 Prelims Facts:

• The Collegium system originated in the 1993 SC judgment (Second Judges Case)
• It comprises the CJI + four senior-most SC judges
• It covers appointments to the SC and 25 High Courts
• Justice Narasimha was elevated to the SC directly from the Bar (2021)

🔑 Key Term: Collegium system — the judge-led mechanism for appointing and transferring higher-judiciary judges.