.png){kind=small}
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
3 hours ago
3
Despite the dissent by Supreme Court (SC) collegium member Justice B.V. Nagarathna, on the appointment of Patna High Court Chief Justice Vipul Pancholi as a judge of the apex Court, the President on Wednesday (August 27, 2025) announced his elevation to the SC.
The SC also appointed Alok Aradhe, Chief Justice, Bombay High Court, as SC judges.
With the two new appointments, the SC will now work in full strength with 34 judges.
Announcing the appointments, law and justice 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 (i) Shri Justice Alok Aradhe, Chief Justice, Bombay High Court and (ii) Shri Justice Vipul Manubhai Pancholi, Chief Justice, Patna High Court as Judges of the Supreme Court of India.”
Justice Pancholi, if appointed now, would be in line for the Chief Justiceship of India in 2031 for a tenure of well over a year.
Justice Nagarathna, the only woman judge in the SC, had pointed out that there were several other HC judges meritorious and senior to Justice Pancholi were bypassed for his appointment.
The Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Reforms said, in a statement issued soon after the SC collegium recommendations were made public, had also expressed its dissent over the appointment of justice Pancholi in SC.
“It is not clear what has swayed the Supreme Court Collegium in recommending Justice Pancholi to the Supreme Court, since Justice Pancholi is not merely the third judge from Gujarat to be elevated to the Supreme Court, (disproportionate to the size of the Gujarat High Court and leaving various other High Courts unrepresented) but he is also 57th in all India seniority list of High Court judges,” the statement of CJAR stated.
It added that elevating Justice Pancholi would take the total count of judges from Gujarat in SC to three and that ‘this would be unfair to other states’.
English (US) ·