The Supreme Court Collegium has recommended the appointment of senior Supreme Court advocate Liz Mathew and Kerala High Court advocate A K Preetha as judges of the Kerala High Court. The appointments will take effect once they receive approval from the Central government.

Liz Mathew, who has been practising in the Supreme Court of India since 2004, served as Standing Counsel for the Government of Kerala between 2011 and 2016. She was designated a Senior Advocate in January 2024.

A native of Panampilly Nagar in Kochi, Liz is the daughter of the late Mathew Anthraper and Mariamma. She is married to Ragend Basant, also a Senior Advocate at the Supreme Court. Her father-in-law, R Basant, previously served as a judge of the Kerala High Court. The couple has two children, Tara and Nikhil.

Preetha, who hails from the Chenthilakam family in Peerumedu, Idukki, is the daughter of Advocate B R Aravindan Nair and Krishnamma. She is married to S S Giri Shankar, Principal of St Dominic’s College of Law, Kanjirappally, and a former Associate Professor at Ernakulam Law College.

The Kerala High Court currently has 38 sitting judges against a sanctioned strength of 47.