Justice Pancholi among two new SC judges sworn in
Justice BV Nagarathna recorded a note of dissent against his elevation, warning that his appointment would be “counter-productive” to the administration of justice
Chief Justice of India (CJI) Bhushan R Gavai on Friday administered the oath of office to two new judges of the Supreme Court, Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice Vipul M Pancholi, with the latter’s appointment turning controversial after Justice BV Nagarathna recorded a strong note of dissent against his elevation, warning that his appointment would be “counter-productive” to the administration of justice and imperil the credibility of the collegium system.
The Union government on Wednesday notified the appointments in less than 48 hours of the collegium’s recommendation. With their swearing-in, the Supreme Court has reached its sanctioned strength of 34 judges, including the CJI, even as Justice Nagarathna remains the lone woman judge on the bench.
Justice Pancholi’s elevation, despite being 57th in the all-India seniority of high court judges, has superseded three women judges senior to him as well as 21 chief justices whose initial appointment as high court judges predates his. The collegium last recommended three women judges for elevation in 2021, and no further recommendations for women judges have been made since then.
Justice Pancholi will also be in line to become the Chief Justice of India for nearly 18 months between October 2031 and May 2033. His appointment was approved by a 4-1 majority in the collegium, though the official resolution uploaded on the court’s website did not disclose the split. Justice Nagarathna, the lone woman member of the five-judge collegium that was led by CJI Gavai and also comprised justices Surya Kant, Vikram Nath, and JK Maheshwari, had issued a detailed written dissent.
Central to her objection was Justice Pancholi’s transfer from the Gujarat high court to the Patna high court in July 2023, which she described as the product of considered deliberation and not a routine move. Her note recalled that the transfer followed consultations with several judges, including justices MR Shah (since retired), Vikram Nath, and JB Pardiwala, and then Gujarat chief justice Aravind Kumar, all of whom concurred with the decision. She urged that the confidential material underpinning the transfer be reviewed before taking any call on his elevation.
Her note also raised two additional axes of concern. First, seniority, highlighting that Justice Pancholi currently stands at number 57 in the all-India seniority list of high court judges, and several meritorious and more senior judges across high courts remain available for consideration. Second, representation – that with justices Pardiwala and NV Anjaria already on the Supreme Court bench from the Gujarat high court, adding a third judge from the same high court risks skewing geographic and institutional balance when many high courts remain unrepresented or under-represented.
Justice Nagarathna’s note maintained that elevating Justice Pancholi despite these concerns would risk “whatever credibility the collegium system still holds.” She sought her dissent to be published on the Supreme Court website in keeping with recent trends of transparency, though the resolution released earlier this week did not annex her note.
Born in 1964, Justice Aradhe has served across multiple high courts in his judicial career. Practising primarily in civil, constitutional, arbitration, and company matters before the Madhya Pradesh high court at Jabalpur, he was designated as a senior advocate in April 2007. He began his judicial career as an additional judge of the Madhya Pradesh high court in December 2009 and became a permanent judge in February 2011. Subsequently, he was transferred to the Jammu and Kashmir high court in September 2016, where he also served as acting chief justice. In November 2018, he was transferred to the Karnataka high court, later serving as its acting chief justice between July and October 2022. In July 2023, he was appointed chief justice of the Telangana high court, and in January 2025, he was shifted as chief justice of the Bombay high court.
Justice Pancholi was born in May 1968 in Ahmedabad. He 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. After nearly a decade in Gujarat, he was transferred to the Patna high court in July 2023. He was appointed chief justice of the Patna high court in July 2025.
