Justices Alok Aradhe and Vipul Pancholi Elevated to Supreme Court Amid Justice Nagarathna’s Objections on Seniority

The Central Government has notified the elevation of Bombay High Court Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Patna High Court Chief Justice Vipul Manubhai Pancholi as judges of the Supreme Court. The elevation of the judges brings the working strength of the apex court back to its full sanctioned strength of 34 judges.

Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal made the announcement on X, confirming the President’s approval of the appointments following the Supreme Court Collegium’s recommendation earlier this week.

The five-member collegium is led by Chief Justice of India B R Gavai and also comprises Justices Surya Kant, Vikram Nath, J K Maheshwari and B V Nagarathna. While the majority of the collegium had recommended the two names in its meeting on August 25, Justice Nagarathna registered a strong dissent against Justice Pancholi’s appointment citing concerns of seniority and the circumstances surrounding his earlier transfer from the Gujarat High Court to Patna.

Justice Alok Aradhe, born on April 13, 1964, began his legal career in 1988 and was designated as a senior advocate in 2007. He was appointed an additional judge of the Madhya Pradesh High Court in December 2009 and became a permanent judge in February 2011.

In 2016, Justice Aradhe was transferred to the Jammu and Kashmir High Court, where he briefly served as Acting Chief Justice in 2018. Later, he took oath as a judge of the Karnataka High Court in November 2018 and served as its Acting Chief Justice in 2022.

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Justice Aradhe was subsequently appointed Chief Justice of the Telangana High Court in July 2023 and was later transferred to the Bombay High Court as Chief Justice in January 2025.

Justice Vipul Manubhai Pancholi was born in Ahmedabad on May 28, 1968. He enrolled at the Bar in 1991 and began practice in the Gujarat High Court. He served as Assistant Government Pleader and Additional Public Prosecutor for seven years until 2006.

Justice Pancholi was later elevated as an additional judge of the Gujarat High Court in October 2014 where he became a permanent judge in June 2016. His transfer to the Patna High Court in July 2023 was met with the ire of the Gujarat High Court Advocates’ Association, though the transfer was later effectuated. On July 21, 2025, he was appointed Chief Justice of the Patna High Court. As per seniority, Justice Pancholi is in line to become Chief Justice of India in October 2031, serving until May 2033.

Justice B V Nagarathna, the lone woman judge in the Supreme Court, opposed his elevation, noting that Justice Pancholi’s position, which is now 57th in the all-India seniority list, coupled with the circumstances of his transfer made the decision “counter-productive” and a potential threat to the credibility of the collegium system.

Despite this dissent, the Centre went ahead with the appointments, ensuring the Supreme Court will function at full strength once both judges assume office.

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