SC collegium recommends two chief justices for elevation to top court

The Supreme Court collegium recommended Justices Alok Aradhe and Vipul Pancholi for elevation to the apex court to fill recent vacancies.

MUMBAI: The Supreme Court collegium on Monday recommended the elevation of justice Alok Aradhe, chief justice of the Bombay High Court, and justice Vipul Manubhai Pancholi, chief justice of the Patna High Court, as judges of the apex court.

SC collegium recommends two chief justices for elevation to top court

The five member collegium headed by CJI BR Gavai met on Monday (August 25) afternoon to hold deliberations. The move comes to fill two vacancies created by the recent retirements of justice Bela Trivedi and justice Sudhanshu Dhulia. With a sanctioned strength of 34 judges, the Supreme Court is currently operating below capacity.

Justice Aradhe, born on April 13, 1964, began his legal career after enrolling as an advocate in 1988. He practised in civil, constitutional, arbitration and company matters before being designated as a senior advocate in 2007. He was appointed an additional judge of the Madhya Pradesh High Court in 2009 and became permanent in 2011.

Over the years, justice Aradhe has served in the high courts of Madhya Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka, Telangana and most recently Bombay, where he took charge as chief justice in January 2025. He has also held key administrative roles, including acting chief justice of the Jammu & Kashmir and Karnataka High Courts, chairperson of various state judicial academies, and head of state legal services authorities.

Beyond the bench, he has contributed to legal scholarship, revising standard reference works such as Principles of Administrative Law by MP Jain and SN Jain, and Principles of Statutory Interpretation by the late justice GP Singh.

Justice Pancholi, who is from the Gujarat High Court, was elevated as chief justice of the Patna High Court earlier this year. His name now joins justice Aradhe’s in the collegium’s latest recommendations to the top court.