Supreme Court Collegium Proposes Elevation of Justices Alok Aradhe, Vipul Pancholi as SC Judges

New Delhi: On Monday, the Supreme Court collegium suggested that Justice Vipul M. Pancholi, who is the Chief Justice of the Patna High Court, and Justice Alok Aradhe, who is the Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court, be promoted to the top court.

The five-member collegium, which included Chief Justice of India Bhushan R Gavai and Justices Surya Kant, Vikram Nath, JK Maheshwari, and BV Nagarathna, cleared their names in a meeting on Monday afternoon. Their appointments will bring the Supreme Court's authorized strength of 34 judges back to full strength.

After Justice Joymalya Bagchi retires in May 2031, Justice Pancholi will be eligible to take over as Chief Justice of India for a 16-month term if appointed.

Career of Justice Alok Aradhe  

Throughout his judicial career, Justice Aradhe has held positions in several high courts. In April 2007, he was appointed a senior advocate and began practicing before the Madhya Pradesh High Court in Jabalpur, mostly in civil, constitutional, arbitration, and business matters.

He joined the Madhya Pradesh High Court in December 2009 as an additional judge, then in February 2011, he was appointed a permanent judge. He was moved to the Jammu and Kashmir High Court in September 2016, where he also held the position of acting Chief Justice. 

He was moved to the Karnataka High Court in November 2018 and was its interim Chief Justice from July to October 2022.

He was named Chief Justice of the Telangana High Court in July 2023, and he was promoted to Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court the following year.

Career of Justice Vipul M Pancholi

In May 1968, Justice Pancholi was born in Ahmedabad. In September 1991, he became an advocate and started working at the Gujarat High Court. Up until March 2006, he was an additional public prosecutor and assistant government pleader for seven years.

He was confirmed as a permanent judge of the Gujarat High Court in June 2016 after being promoted as an additional judge in October 2014. In July 2023, after almost ten years in Gujarat, he was moved to the Patna High Court and swore in as a judge. In July 2025, he was named Chief Justice of the Patna High Court.