The Supreme Court collegium, led by Chief Justice of India B R Gavai, has recommended the elevation of Bombay High Court Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Patna High Court Chief Justice Vipul M Pancholi as judges of the apex court.

Along with the CJI, the collegium also includes Justices Surya Kant, Vikram Nath, J K Maheshwari and B V Nagarathna.

Profiles of the Recommended Judges

• Justice Alok Aradhe began his judicial career with the Madhya Pradesh High Court in 2009. He later served in the Jammu & Kashmir High Court as judge and acting chief justice, before moving to the Karnataka High Court as acting CJ. In July 2023, he became Chief Justice of the Telangana High Court, and in January 2025, took oath as Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court.
• Justice Vipul M Pancholi, originally from the Gujarat High Court, was appointed as a judge in 2014. He was transferred to the Patna High Court in July 2023 and elevated as its Chief Justice a month later. His rise is among the fastest in the hierarchy of constitutional courts.

Representation of Gujarat High Court

Justice Pancholi’s elevation means Gujarat High Court will have three judges in the Supreme Court, alongside Justices J B Pardiwala and N V Anjaria. Notably, Justice Pardiwala is in line to serve as the Chief Justice of India from May 2028 to August 2030, while Justice Pancholi would have a tenure of over 19 months as an SC judge starting October 2031.

This would mark a significant phase where two judges from Gujarat HC will hold the office of CJI within five years. The last CJI from Gujarat HC was Justice A M Ahmadi, who served between 1994 and 1997.

Transfers of 14 High Court Judges

In addition to the appointments, the collegium has recommended transfers of 14 High Court judges across the country. Among them:

• Justices Arun Monga (Delhi HC) to Kerala HC and Tara V Ganju (Delhi HC) to Patna HC
• Justice Atul Sreedharan (MP HC) to Chhattisgarh HC
• Justice Sanjay Agrawal (Chhattisgarh HC) to Allahabad HC
• Justice J Nisha Banu (Madras HC) to Kerala HC
• Justices Dinesh Mehta and Avneesh Jhingan (Rajasthan HC) to Delhi HC
• Justice Sanjay Kumar Singh (Allahabad HC) to Madras HC
• Justice Rohit Ranjan Agarwal (Allahabad HC) to Calcutta HC
• Justice Manavendranath Roy (Gujarat HC) to Andhra Pradesh HC
• Justice Donadi Ramesh (Allahabad HC) to Andhra Pradesh HC
• Justice Sandeep Natvarlal Bhatt (Gujarat HC) to MP HC
• Justice Chandrasekharan Sudha (Kerala HC) to Delhi HC
• Justice Subhendu Samanta (Calcutta HC) to Andhra Pradesh HC

Once the President approves these appointments, the Supreme Court will reach its sanctioned strength of 34 judges.

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