NEW DELHI: The swearing-in ceremony of newly appointed Justices Alok Aradhe and Vipul Manubhai Pancholi as Judges of the Supreme Court will be held on Friday, 29 August 2025, from 10:30 a.m. onwards. The proceedings will be live-streamed on the official website of the Supreme Court.
The ceremony can be accessed via the following links:
Supreme Court website: https://www.sci.gov.in/live-streaming/
Three days earlier, on Monday, 25 August, the Supreme Court collegium recommended to the Central Government the elevation of Bombay High Court Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Patna High Court Chief Justice Vipul Pancholi to the apex court. The Centre approved the recommendations on Wednesday.
With their elevation, the Supreme Court has now reached its full sanctioned strength of 34 judges, including the Chief Justice of India (CJI).
Justice Pancholi is expected to become the Chief Justice of India in October 2031 following the retirement of Justice Joymalya Bagchi, and would likely serve until October 2033.
The five-member collegium, headed by CJI B R Gavai, met on Monday afternoon to finalise the recommendations. The other four members of the collegium were Justices Surya Kant, J K Maheshwari, Vikram Nath, and B V Nagarathna.
However, it has since emerged that Justice B V Nagarathna dissented from the recommendation of Justice Pancholi’s elevation. In her opinion, his appointment could prove “counter-productive” to the judiciary and might further erode “whatever credibility the collegium system still holds.”
She further noted that “several judges outrank Justice Pancholi and could have been considered for the post.”
Justice Nagarathna is in line to become the first woman Chief Justice of India in September 2027.
