NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court Collegium on Monday approved for elevation of Justice Alok Aradhe, Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court and Justice Vipul Manubhai Pancholi, Chief Justice of Patna High Court for elevation as judges of the top court.
The five-judge Collegium led by Chief Justice of India B R Gavai made the resolution for elevation of the two judges in a meeting held on Monday.
Of the two, Justice Pancholi would go on to become the Chief Justice of India, starting from October 2, 2031 till his retirement on May 27, 2033.
He is expected to succeed Justice Joymalya Bagchi as the Chief Justice of India.
If the two appointments are cleared, the SC will work with sanctioned strength of 34 judges. The Supreme Court currently has two vacancies on superannuation of Justices Bela M Trivedi and Sudhanshu Dhulia.
The two names were cleared in the deliberation of the Collegium, also comprising Justices Surya Kant, Vikram Nath, J K Maheshwari, and B V Nagarathna.
Born on April 13, 1964 in Raipur, Justice Aradhe is currently the Chief Justice of Bombay High Court. 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 also served as Acting Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court and Jammu and Kashmir High Court.
He passed BSc and LLB and started practice in Madhya Pradesh High Court at Jabalpur from 1988. He worked on Civil, Constitutional, Arbitration and Company Matters. Aradhe was designated as Senior Advocate in April 2007. He was appointed as Additional Judge of the Madhya Pradesh High Court on December 29, 2009.
Born on May 28, 1968 in Ahmedabad, Justice Pancholi enrolled as an advocate in September 1991, beginning his practise at the Gujarat high court. He served as assistant government pleader and additional public prosecutor for seven years until March 2006. In October 2014, he was elevated as an Additional Judge of the Gujarat High Court and confirmed as a permanent judge in June 2016.
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.
If appointed, he would retire as the Chief Justice of India on May 27, 2033.
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