SC Collegium recommends elevation of HC Chief Justices Aradhe, Pancholi to top court

The Supreme Court Collegium on Monday recommended the names of Bombay High Court Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Patna High Court Chief Justice Vipul Manubhai Pancholi for elevation to the top court.

If the two names are cleared by the Centre, Justice Pancholi would be in line to become the CJI in October 2031 after retirement of Justice Joymalya Bagchi and would occupy the position for one-and-a-half-year.

The decision was taken by the five-member Collegium headed by CJI BR Gavai. The other members of the Collegium include Justice Surya Kant, Justice Vikram Nath, Justice JK Maheshwari and Justice BV Nagarathna.

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.

Born on April 13, 1964, Justice Aradhe did B.Sc. and LL.B and enrolled as advocate on July 12, 1988. He practised on Civil and Constitutional, Arbitration and Company matters in the Madhya Pradesh High Court which designated him as Senior Advocate in April 2007.

Appointed as Additional Judge of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh on December 29, 2009, and Permanent Judge on February 15, 2011, and 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.

Patna High Court Chief Justice Vipul Manubhai Pancholi was born on May 28, 1968, in Ahmedabad. He obtained Bachelor of Science (Electronics) from St. Xavier’s College, Ahmedabad, Gujarat University and Master of Law in Commercial Group from Sir L.A. 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 L.A. Shah Law College, Ahmedabad, from December 1993 for 21 years.

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

The Supreme Court Collegium also recommended the appointment of Justice Shree Chandrashekhar of the Bombay High Court (Parent HC: Jharkhand) as Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court.