CJI Gavai administers oath of office to two newly appointed SC judges

New Delhi: Chief Justice of India (CJI) B.R. Gavai on Friday administered the oath of office to two newly appointed judges of the Supreme Court. Justices Alok Aradhe and Vipul Manubhai Pancholi took oath as apex court judges, two days after the Centre cleared their appointments.

With the swearing-in of the two new judges, the Supreme Court regained its full sanctioned strength of 34 judges, including the Chief Justice of India.

The top court Collegium, headed by CJI Gavai, had on Monday forwarded its recommendations to the Centre. “The Supreme Court Collegium in its meeting held on 25th August, 2025 has recommended elevation of the following Chief Justices of the High Courts, as Judges in the Supreme Court: (i) Mr. Justice Alok Aradhe, Chief Justice, High Court of Bombay (PHC: High Court of Madhya Pradesh) (ii) Mr. Justice Vipul Manubhai Pancholi, Chief Justice, High Court of Judicature at Patna, (PHC: High Court of Gujarat),” said a statement uploaded on the website of the apex court.

Acting swiftly on the SC Collegium recommendation, Union Minister for Law and Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal, in a post on social media platform X on Wednesday, said the President, after consultation with the CJI, was pleased to appoint Justices Aradhe and Pancholi as apex court judges.

Born on April 13, 1964, Justice Aradhe enrolled as an advocate in 1988 and was designated a senior advocate in 2007. He was appointed Additional Judge of the Madhya Pradesh High Court in December 2009 and became a Permanent Judge in February 2011.

Justice Aradhe later served in the Jammu & Kashmir High Court from 2016, where he was Acting Chief Justice for a short period of term in 2018, before being transferred to the Karnataka High Court in November 2018. He functioned as Acting Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court for around three months in 2022. Justice Aradhe was elevated as Chief Justice of Telangana High Court in July 2023 and transferred as Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court in January this year.

Born on May 28, 1968, in Gujarat’s Ahmedabad, Justice Pancholi completed his B.Sc. in Electronics and LL.M. in Commercial Law from Gujarat University. He joined the Bar in 1991 and served as Assistant Government Pleader and Additional Public Prosecutor at the Gujarat High Court for seven years.

Justice Pancholi was elevated as an Additional Judge of the Gujarat High Court on October 1, 2014 and became a Permanent Judge on June 10, 2016. He was transferred to the Patna High Court in July 2023 and took charge as its Chief Justice on July 21.

–IANS