Centre notifies appointment of Justices Alok Aradhe, Vipul Pancholi to Supreme Court

The Centre on Wednesday notified the appointment of Bombay High Court Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Patna High Court Chief Justice Vipul Manubhai Pancholi as judges of the Supreme Court, barely two days after the CJI BR Gavai-led Collegium recommended their elevation.

“In exercise of the powers conferred by Clause (2) of Article 124 of the Constitution of India, the President is pleased to appoint Shri Justice Alok Aradhe, Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court, to be a Judge of the Supreme Court of India with effect from the date he assumes charge of his office,” a Department of Justice notification read. A similar notification was issued about Justice Pancholi.

He would be in line to become the CJI in October 2031 after the retirement of Justice Joymalya Bagchi and would occupy the top judicial position for one-and-a-half years.

Once the two judges take the oath of office, the working strength of the Supreme Court will reach 34. Currently, the top court is functioning with only 32 judges against its sanctioned strength of 34, including the CJI.

The collegium’s decision to recommend the names of Justice Aradhe and Justice Pancholi was taken on Monday by the five-member collegium headed by CJI Gavai. The other members of the collegium include Justice Surya Kant, Justice Vikram Nath, Justice JK Maheshwari, and Justice BV Nagarathna.

Justice Nagarathna – the lone woman judge in the collegium – had reportedly opposed Justice Pancholi’s elevation to the top court, saying it would be “counterproductive” to the administration of justice and would erode the credibility of the collegium system.

Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Reforms (CJAR) had on Tuesday questioned the decision.

“It is not clear what has swayed the Supreme Court Collegium in recommending Justice Pancholi to the Supreme Court, since Justice Pancholi is not merely the third judge from Gujarat to be elevated to the Supreme Court (disproportionate to the size of the Gujarat High Court and leaving various other high courts unrepresented) but he is also 57th in the all-India seniority list of high court judges,” CJAR said in a statement.

Senior counsel Indira Jaising also raised questions over Justice Pancholi’s elevation. “At least 3 women judges are senior to Justice Vipul Pancholi. They are Justices Sunita Agarwal, Revati Mohite Dere, and Lisa Gill. This makes three judges from Gujarat, two will be CJI,” she wrote on X.

“Since the appointment of Justices Hima Kohli, BV Nagarathna, and Bela Trivedi in 2021, as recommended by then-CJI NV Ramana, 28 judges have been appointed under four CJIs, but not a single woman judge has been recommended. Does wisdom lie only with men?” Jaising asked.

Born on April 13, 1964, Justice Aradhe did (link unavailable) and LLB and enrolled as an advocate on July 12, 1988. He practiced in civil and constitutional, arbitration, and company matters in the Madhya Pradesh High Court, which designated him as Senior Advocate in April 2007.

Appointed as an Additional Judge of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh on December 29, 2009, and permanent judge on February 15, 2011, he was transferred to the Jammu and Kashmir High Court where he took oath on September 20, 2016. He was transferred to the Karnataka High Court in November 2018 and was appointed as Chief Justice of the Telangana High Court in July 2023. Later, he was transferred as the Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court in January 2025.

Born on May 28, 1968, at Ahmedabad, Justice Pancholi obtained a Bachelor of Science (Electronics) from St Xavier’s College, Ahmedabad, Gujarat University, and a Master of Law in Commercial Group from Sir LA Shah Law College, Ahmedabad, Gujarat University. He joined the Bar in September 1991 and started practice as an advocate in the Gujarat High Court.

He conducted important cases in various branches of law, viz. criminal law, civil law, property law, service law, family law, banking law, and various other laws and also worked as visiting faculty at Sir LA Shah Law College, Ahmedabad from December 1993 for 21 years.

Elevated as an Additional Judge of the Gujarat High Court on October 1, 2014, Justice Pancholi was confirmed as a permanent judge on June 10, 2016. He was transferred to Patna High Court in July 2023 and became the Chief Justice of the same high court on July 21, 2025.