Supreme Court Collegium recommends Justices Alok Aradhe and Vipul M Pancholi to the top Court

The Supreme Court Collegium led by Chief Justice B.R. Gavai has recommended the names of Justice Alok Aradhe, the Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court, and Justice Vipul M Pancholi, Chief Justice of the Patna High Court, as judges of the Supreme Court 

If the two recommendations are accepted by the Union Government, the Supreme Court will have a complete strength of 34 Judges till 23 November 2025, when CJI Gavai retires 

First impressions on the impact to the Court

Justice Alok Aradhe hails from the High Court of Madhya Pradesh. Currently, there are two judges at the top Court who hail from the Madhya Pradesh High Court—Justices J.K. Maheshwari and S.C. Sharma.

Justice Vipul Manubhai Pancholi hails from the Gujarat High Court. The Supreme Court has two sitting judges of the Gujarat High Court, namely Justices J.B. Pardiwala and N.V. Anjaria. Both Justices Pardiwala and Pancholi are in line to be the Chief Justice of India.

The Gavai-led Collegium includes Justices Surya Kant, Vikram Nath, J.K. Maheshwari and Justice B.V. Nagarathna. If the recommendations are accepted, this will be the final recommendation the Gavai-led collegium will make, with three months remaining in the Chief’s tenure.

The recommendation published on the Supreme Court Website does not contain any reasons as to why the two judges were considered, a notable departure from the pro-transparency practices followed by the CJIs of recent times.

Interestingly, Justice Nagarathana is the only woman judge at the Supreme Court. We had written in our newsletter last Saturday that this will be CJI Gavai’s opportunity to add to the Court’s gender diversity. It appears that we must wait for the Justice Surya Kant-led Collegium for changes on this front. 

Who is Justice Aradhe?

Justice Aradhe was born on 13 April 1964, pursued a B.Sc. and then an LL.B., and enrolled as an Advocate on 12 July 1988. He practiced before the Madhya Pradesh High Court, specialising in civil, constitutional, arbitration and company matters. He was designated Senior Advocate in April 2007.

He was elevated as an Additional Judge of the Madhya Pradesh High Court on 29 December 2009 and confirmed as a Permanent Judge on 15 February 2011. He was then transferred to the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir (2016-2018), then to the Karnataka High Court (2018-2023). 

On 23 July 2023, Justice Aradhe took oath as Chief Justice of the Telangana High Court. He was later transferred as Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court, where he has served since 21 January 2025.

Justice Aradhe contributed to legal scholarship, revising the fifth and sixth editions of Principles of Administrative Law by M.P. Jain and S.N. Jain, as well as the 15th edition of Principles of Statutory Interpretation by the late Justice G.P. Singh, former Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court.

Who is Justice Pancholi?

Born on 28 May 1968 in Ahmedabad, Justice Pancholi graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Electronics from St. Xavier’s College, Ahmedabad and went on to obtain a Master of Law in Commercial Group from Sir L.A. Shah Law College, Ahmedabad. He entered the Bar in September 1991 and began practice as an advocate before the High Court of Gujarat. He was appointed Assistant Government Pleader and Additional Public Prosecutor for the High Court of Gujarat, serving in that capacity for seven years until March 2006.

Justice Pancholi was elevated as an Additional Judge of the Gujarat High Court on 1 October 2014 and confirmed as a Permanent Judge on 10 June 2016. He was transferred as a Judge of the Patna High Court on 24 July 2023. He assumed office as its Chief Justice, two years later, on 21 July 2025. 

He also contributed to legal scholarship as Honorary Joint Editor of The Gujarat Law Herald for two years, and served as visiting faculty at Sir L.A. Shah Law College, Ahmedabad, from December 1993 for over two decades. 

Justice Pancholi will likely become the Chief Justice of India, enjoying a tenure of 1.5 years, starting October 2031.