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Informist, Friday, Aug. 29, 2025

 

NEW DELHI - Judges Alok Aradhe and Vipul Manubhai Pancholi, who were serving as chief justices in the Bombay High Court and the Patna High Court, respectively, on Friday took oath as Supreme Court judges. With this, the Supreme Court will now work with its full sanctioned strength of 34 judges.

 

On Monday, the apex court's collegium had recommended Aradhe and Pancholi's name for the top court. Thereafter, the government approved the collegium's recommendation on Wednesday. According to media reports, collegium member Justice B.V. Nagarathna had opposed Justice Pancholi's elevation to the top court. She had said that Justice Pancholi's appointment to the apex court would be "counter productive" and could harm the court's reputation. 

 

Justice Nagarathna said Justice Pancholi's transfer as the Chief Justice of Patna High Court from the Gujarat High Court in 2023 was not a routine move but taken after due deliberation at the highest levels. Further, she said that Gujarat High Court was already well represented in the apex court as Justices J.B. Pardiwala and N.V. Anjaria were from the same court and Justice Pancholi's elevation could create an imbalance while leaving other high courts under-represented.

 

She said Justice Pancholi ranked 57th among the high court judges across the nation and there were multiple other meritorious and senior judges who could be considered for elevation before him. Justice Pancholi superseding several other high court judges would also put him in line to become the Chief Justice of India from October 2031 to May 2033, said Justice Nagarathna. "This, in her view, would not be in the judiciary's interests, given the concerns raised by her," she added.

 

Justice Pancholi joined the bar in 1991 and served as an assistant government pleader and additional public prosecutor in the Gujarat High Court. He handled cases across various branches of law, such as criminal law, civil, property law, service law, family law, and banking law. He was elevated as an additional judge of the Gujarat High Court in 2014 and became a permanent judge in 2016. In 2023, he was transferred to the Patna High Court and appointed its chief justice in July.

 

Justice Aradhe had enrolled as an advocate in 1988 and practised in civil, constitutional, arbitration, and company matters. He was appointed as an additional judge of the high court of Madhya Pradesh in 2009 and became a permanent judge in 2011. In 2016, he was transferred to the Jammu and Kashmir High Court. After stints at the Karnataka High Court and Telangana High Court, he assumed charge as Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court in January.  End

 

Reported by Surya Tripathi

Edited by Vandana Hingorani

 

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