The Supreme Court Collegium on Thursday recommended the elevation of Calcutta High Court judge, Justice Joymalya Bagchi, to the Apex Court.
Justice Bagchi, who currently stands at 11th rank in the all-India seniority list of High Court judges, including Chief Justices, will have a considerably long tenure at the Supreme Court.
He will become the Chief Justice of India in May 2031 upon retirement of Justice KV Viswanathan.
Justice Bagchi, however, will serve as CJI only for a relatively short duration since he will retire in October 2031.
He will 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