The Union government on Monday gave its approval to the elevation of Justice Joymalya Bagchi, currently serving as a judge of the Calcutta High Court, to the Supreme Court.
The information was shared on social media by Union Minister for Law and Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal.
The post on Meghwal’s X (formerly Twitter) handle said that in exercise of the power conferred by the Constitution of India, the President of India, after consultation with the Chief Justice of India, was pleased to appoint Justice Joymalya Bagchi, a judge of the Calcutta High Court, to be a judge of the Supreme Court, with effect from the date he assumed charge.
On March 6, 2025, the Supreme Court Collegium recommended the elevation of Justice Bagchi to the Apex Court.
Justice Bagchi, who currently stood at 11th rank in the all-India seniority list of High Court judges, including Chief Justices, would have a considerably long tenure at the Supreme Court.
He is set to become the Chief Justice of India in May 2031, following the retirement of Justice KV Viswanathan.
Justice Bagchi, however, would serve as CJI only for a relatively short duration since he would retire in October 2031.
He would be the first CJI from Calcutta after late CJI Altamas Kabir, who retired from office in 2013.
The Collegium, headed by Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna, took into account the fact that at present, the Apex Court Bench was represented by only one Judge from the High Court at Calcutta.
Justice Bagchi was appointed as a judge of the High Court at Calcutta on June 27, 2011 and transferred to the High Court of Andhra Pradesh on January 4, 2021. He was repatriated to the Calcutta High Court on November 8, 2021 and has been functioning there since then.
He has served as a judge of the High Court for more than 13 years.
The Collegium said that during his long tenure as a Judge of the High Court, Justice Bagchi has acquired significant experience in diverse fields of law.
After the appointment of Justice Bagchi, the Supreme Court will function with a strength of 33 judges, with one vacancy.