Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice Vipul Pancholi sworn in as Supreme Court judges

Amidst raging controversy, following Justice B V Nagarathna’s dissent over the, out of turn, elevation of Justice Pancholi as Supreme court judge, both Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice Pancholi were on Friday sworn in as judges of the Supreme Court. They were administered the oath of office by the Chief Justice of India, Justice B R Gavai.

Justice Pancholi would go on to become the Chief Justice of India from October 3, 2031, to May 27, 2033.

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With the swearing-in of both Justice Aradhe and Justice Pancholi, the Supreme Court will function with its full sanctioned strength of 34 judges.

Before their elevation to the apex court, Justice Aradhe was the chief justice of the Bombay High Court, and Justice Pancholi was the chief justice of the Patna High Court.

The Supreme Court collegium, on August 25, had recommended the elevation of Justice Aradhe and Justice Pancholi to the Supreme Court. However, Justice Nagarathna recorded her dissent on the name of Justice Pancholi, who, in the seniority of high court judges, stood at 57th position.

Besides Justice Nagarathna, other members of collegium are Chief Justice of India Justice B R Gavai, Justice Surya Kant, Justice Vikram Nath, and Justice JK Maheshwari.

In her dissent on the proposal to elevate Justice Pancholi to the Supreme Court, Justice Nagarathna reportedly said that the appointment would not only be “counter-productive” to the administration of justice, but would also put the credibility of the Collegium system at stake.

In her dissent note, she reportedly pointed out that Justice Pancholi ranks 57th among High Court judges, and that more senior judges across High Courts could be considered ahead of him.

Although several high courts have multiple judges represented in the Supreme Court, the Supreme Court currently has only one woman judge, Justice B V Nagarathna. The Collegium last recommended three women judges for elevation in 2021, and no further recommendations for women judges have been made since then.

While the Collegium has not hesitated to allow the supersession of judges to appoint Justice Pancholi, who are men, there appears to be reluctance when it comes to appointing women judges.

For instance, Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court, Sunita Agarwal, appointed as a High Court judge on November 21, 2011, is senior to Justice Pancholi.

Similarly, Justice Revati Prashant Mohite Dere, appointed as a judge of the Bombay High Court on June 21, 2013, and Justice Lisa Gill, appointed as a judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court on March 31, 2014, are both senior to Justice Pancholi.

Justice Aradhe originally hails from the Madhya Pradesh High Court, where he was appointed as a judge on December 29, 2009. He was transferred to the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and assumed charge on September 20, 2016. He acted as the Acting Chief Justice there from May 11, 2018, and was later transferred to the Karnataka High Court on November 17, 2018.

Justice Aradhe functioned as Acting Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court from July 3, 2022, to October 14, 2022. On July 19, 2023, he was appointed Chief Justice of the Telangana High Court. Justice Aradhe was subsequently transferred to the Bombay High Court on January 21, 2025.

Justice Aradhe will serve until April 12, 2029. With his appointment, the Supreme Court now has three judges from the Madhya Pradesh High Court, the other two being Justices J.K. Maheshwari and Satish Chandra Sharma.

Justice Pancholi was appointed as a judge of the Gujarat High Court on October 1, 2014. He was transferred to the Patna High Court on July 14, 2023, and appointed as its Chief Justice on July 21, 2025.

His appointment as a Supreme Court judge has resulted in the supersession of as many as 21 Chief Justices whose initial appointment as High Court judges predates Justice Pancholi’s. With his appointment, the Gujarat High Court has three judges in the Supreme Court, the others being Justice J.B. Pardiwala and Justice A.N. Anjaria.