Centre clears appointment of two judges to SC, including future CJI Justice Pancholi

New Delhi: The Centre on Wednesday cleared the recommendation of the Supreme Court Collegium for the elevation of Justice Alok Aradhe, Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court, and Justice Vipul Manubhai Pancholi, Chief Justice of Patna High Court, as judges of the apex court.

In a post on X, Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said: “In exercise of the powers conferred by the Constitution of India, the President, after consultation with Chief Justice of India, is pleased to appoint Justice Aradhe and Justice Pancholi as judges of the Supreme Court.”

On Monday, the five-judge Collegium led by CJI, also comprising justices Surya Kant, Vikram Nath, J K Maheshwari, and B V Nagarathna, made the resolution on the two appointments.

The Centre fast-tracked its decision and notified the elevation of the judges within merely two days.

Notably, in the Collegium, Justice Nagarathna had dissented on the recommendation on elevation of Justice Pancholi, citing his 57th rank in the all-India list of seniority of the judges of the high court.

The dissent note reportedly also raised the issue of regional representation, as the ground for opposition to the elevation of Justice Pancholi.

Nagarathna's note also referred to the circumstances of Justice Pancholi's transfer from the Gujarat to the Patna High Court.

According to a source familiar with the development, Justice Nagarathna said, Justice Pancholi’s appointment would not only be “counter-productive” to the administration of justice but would also put the credibility of the Collegium system at stake.

Justice Nagarathna also pointed out that the Gujarat High Court was already represented in the apex court by Justices J B Pardiwala (who is in line to be CJI between May 2028 and August 2030) and N V Anjaria.

Justice Nagarathna felt that having another judge from the same high court would skew the balance. It was pointed out that many high courts remained unrepresented or under-represented in the apex court.

Justice Pancholi is in line to be the Chief Justice of India from October 2, 2031 upon retirement of Justice Joymalya Bagchi and continue on to the post till May 27, 2033.

With the Centre clearing the appointment of the two judges, the apex court will now work with a sanctioned strength of 34 judges.

Justice Aradhe is currently the Chief Justice of Bombay High Court. Born on April 13, 1964 in Raipur, he has been a former chief justice of Telangana High Court. He has also served as a judge of Karnataka High Court, Jammu and Kashmir High Court and Madhya Pradesh High Court. He has further served as acting chief justice of Karnataka High Court and Jammu and Kashmir High Court. He was appointed as Additional Judge of the Madhya Pradesh High Court on December 29, 2009.

Justice Pancholi was born on May 28, 1968 in Ahmedabad. He was transferred to the Patna high court in July 2023, where he took oath as judge. He was appointed Chief Justice of the Patna High Court in July 2025. He enrolled as an advocate in September 1991, beginning his practice at the Gujarat High Court.