Supreme Court Collegium Recommends Elevation of Chief Justices Alok Aradhe and Vipul Pancholi to Supreme Court
Kiran Raj
The Supreme Court Collegium has recommended the elevation of Bombay High Court Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Patna High Court Chief Justice Vipul Pancholi as judges of the apex court.
The recommendation was made by the Collegium comprising Chief Justice of India BR Gavai and Justices Surya Kant, Vikram Nath, JK Maheshwari, and BV Nagarathna. With the Supreme Court currently functioning with 32 judges against its sanctioned strength of 34, the appointments would fill two existing vacancies.
Justice Aradhe began his judicial career as an additional judge of the Madhya Pradesh High Court in 2009 before being confirmed as a permanent judge in 2011. He was transferred to the Jammu and Kashmir High Court in 2016, where he briefly served as Acting Chief Justice in 2018.
Later that year, he took oath as a judge of the Karnataka High Court, where he again served as Acting Chief Justice in 2022. In July 2023, Justice Aradhe was appointed Chief Justice of the Telangana High Court. He was subsequently transferred to the Bombay High Court in January 2025, where he currently presides as Chief Justice.
Justice Vipul Pancholi, whose parent High Court is Gujarat, was elevated as an additional judge of the Gujarat High Court on October 1, 2014, and confirmed as a permanent judge in June 2016.
Born on May 28, 1968, Justice Pancholi began his legal practice in September 1991 at the Gujarat High Court. He was transferred to the Patna High Court in July 2023.
