Ignoring dissent note by one of the collegium memebrs, the Central government has cleared the elevation of Bombay High Court Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Patna High Court Chief Justice Vipul Pancholi to the Supreme Court of India.
Notwithstanding one of the collegium member's dissent on the name of Justcie Vipul Pancholi, Union Ministry ignored it and moved moved with urgency to process the appointment warrants of both Justices Alok Aradhe and Vipul Pancholi.The development was announced this afternoon on X by Law Minister Arjun Meghwal.Justice Nagarathna had strongly dissented on the proposal to elevate Justice Pancholi to the Supreme Court.
Justice BV Nagarathna, who is a member of the Collegium, had reportedly opined that Justice Pancholi's 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 strongly worded dissent note, future CJI Nagarathna 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.However, the four other members of the Collegium - Chief Justice of India BR Gavai and Justices Surya Kant, Vikram Nath and JK Maheshwari - all assented to Justice Pancholi's elevation, rendering the dissent moot.
Justice Pancholi, who will serve as India's 60th Chief Justice in 2031 if his appointment is cleared by the Central government, will also be the third sitting Supreme Court judge whose parent High Court is the Gujarat High Court. Justice Pancholi will have a long tenure of nearly 8 years at the Supreme Court.Pertinently, the resolution uploaded on the Supreme Court website did not include the dissent note by Justice Nagarathna.
The Supreme Court, which has a sanctioned strength of 34, is currently functioning with 32 judges, a vacancy position of 2. With these appointments, the top court will function at its full strength.The Collegium, comprising Chief Justice BR Gavai and Justices Surya Kant, Vikram Nath, JK Maheshwari, and BV Nagarathna, had made the recommendation to elevate Justices Aradhe and Pancholi in a meeting held on August 25.
Justice Aradhe was appointed as an additional judge of the Madhya Pradesh High Court in 2009. He was made a permanent judge in 2011. He was transferred to the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir in 2016 and served as its Acting Chief Justice for 3 months in 2018.
After that, he took oath as a judge of the Karnataka High Court on November 17, 2018 and served as its acting Chief Justice for a few months in 2022.In July 2023, he was appointed as Chief Justice of the Telangana High Court.He was then transferred to the Bombay High Court as its Chief Justice in January 2025 where he currently serves.
Justice Pancholi's parent High Court is the Gujarat High Court. He was transferred to Patna in July 2023.He joined the Bar in September 1991 and started practice as an advocate in the Gujarat High Court.He was elevated as an additional judge of the Gujarat High Court on October 1, 2014, and confirmed as a permanent Judge on June 10, 2016.His transfer to Patna High Court from Gujarat was mired in controversy after the Gujarat High Court Advocates' Association (GHCAA) opposed the same.In a communication to the then Chief Justice of India, the GHCAA had said that Justice Pancholi had all the qualities that a good judge should possess.
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