Following the retirement of Justice AS Oka, one of the incumbent members of the Collegium today, the Supreme Court Collegium will welcome a new member, Justice BV Nagarathna.
Scheduled to become the first woman Chief Justice of India in 2027, Justice Nagarathna will become part of the Supreme Court Collegium from May 25, 2025.
Headed by the Chief Justice of India and comprising four senior-most judges of the Supreme Court, makes recommendations for appointment of judges to the Apex Court, as well as various High Courts across the country.
The Collegium is also responsible for recommending transfer of High Court judges. It further nominates judicial officers and members of the Bar for their elevation to the High Courts and the top court of the country.
Three senior-most judges make the decisions on appointment of judges to High Courts.
When Justice BR Gavai took oath as the 52nd CJI, the Collegium comprised Justice Surya Kant, Justice Abhay S Oka, Justice Vikram Nath and Justice JK Maheshwari.
Justice Oka is demitting office today, leaving a spot open in the Collegium.
Since Justice Nagarathna has become the fifth senior-most judge now, she will officially become part of the Collegium from May 25 and remain part of the same till she retires as the 55th CJI in 2027.
Justice Nagarathna will be the first-ever woman Chief Justice of India. However, her tenure will be only for 36 days from September 24 to October 29, 2027, the third shortest tenure of a CJI in the history of the Supreme Court of India.
Justice Nagarathna is the daughter of Justice ES Venkataramiah, who served as the 19th CJI from June 19, 1989 till his retirement on December 17, 1989.
She started practicing law in 1987. Initially, she was associated with KESVY & Co, Advocates. Nagarathna moved to independent practice in 1994, focusing on constitutional, administrative, commercial and family laws.
In February 2008, she was appointed as an additional judge of the Karnataka High Court and was made permanent in 2010.
She was elevated to the Supreme Court on August 31, 2021.
As a judge of the Supreme Court, Justice Nagarathna has been part of many Constitution Bench judgments and delivered strong dissenting opinions in several of them. These include the cases concerning the power of States to levy tax on industrial alcohol, the royalty paid by mining operators to the Centre, etc.
She was the sole dissenter in the Constitution Bench verdict, which upheld the Central government’s 2016 demonetisation scheme. As per Justice Nagarathna, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) did not appy its mind while considering the demonetisation proposal sent by the government.