Next on Collegium agenda: Filling up vacancies in Supreme Court

Next on Collegium agenda: Filling up vacancies in Supreme Court With all positions of HC Chief Justices filled, it is learnt, the Collegium's spotlight now shifts to the four vacancies in the top court.

Key points

• As CJI, Justice Ranjan Gogoi recommended CJI Kant; CJI N V Ramana recommended Justices Nath, Nagarathna, Narasimha; and as CJI, Justice B R Gavai recommended Justice Pancholi.
• 4 min read New Delhi Sep 7, 2026 05: 20 AM IST.
• Apurva Vishwanath is the National Legal Editor at The Indian Express, where she leads the organization's coverage of the Indian judiciary, constitutional law, and public policy.
• The eighth, for Chhattisgarh, followed separately after its sitting Chief Justice retired on September 4.
• With 8 appointments notified by the Centre, all 25 HCs now have regular CJs.

All 25 High Courts nationwide now have a regular Chief Justice after eight appointments were notified by the Centre on Saturday, on the seven recommendations created by the Supreme Court Collegium on August 6 and August 31. The eighth, for Chhattisgarh, followed separately after its sitting Chief Justice retired on September 4.

Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal confirmed the appointments on X: Justice Valluri Kameswar Rao of the Delhi HC will head Patna, Justice Ravindra V Ghuge of Bombay moves to Calcutta, Justice Sanjay Kumar Agrawal of Chhattisgarh goes to Rajasthan, and Justice Mahesh Chandra Tripathi of Allahabad takes over Bombay. While Justices Krushna Ram Mohapatra, Alpesh Yeshvant Kogje and Pushpendra Singh Bhati take charge of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh, respectively, justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra was confirmed as the regular Chief Justice of his own Punjab and Haryana HC.

Sources informed The Indian Express that gender representation is anticipated to weigh on the Collegium's choice. Among sitting HC Chief Justices, Justices Sunita Agarwal, Lisa Gill, and Revati Mohite Dere, the current Chief Justices of the Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Meghalaya HCs, are the only women judges. Justice Agarwal, the senior of the three judges, is originally from the Allahabad HC and is due to retire in April 2028. Justice Dere, who is from the Bombay HC, retires in April 2027. Justice Gill, who is from the Punjab and Haryana HC, retires in November 2028. The SC at present has only one woman judge, Justice Nagarathna. This person is part of the five-member Collegium.

Another key matter for consideration is recommending a candidate who can add to the potential line of succession to the office of the CJI. Under the seniority convention that has governed the office for decades, the succession is mapped through Justices Vikram Nath, B V Nagarathna – in line to become India's first woman CJI – P S Narasimha, J B Pardiwala, K V Viswanathan, Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul Pancholi, taking the office till May 2033.

Almost every CJI in the last decade has recommended at least one candidate who is a potential CJI, except for former CJIs S A Bobde and U U Lalit.

As CJI, Justice Ranjan Gogoi recommended CJI Kant; CJI N V Ramana recommended Justices Nath, Nagarathna, Narasimha; and as CJI, Justice B R Gavai recommended Justice Pancholi. To join that line, those elevated now would join the SC at the bottom of the seniority list. Essentially, they would be junior even to the five judges sworn in on June 2 and would still have to be sitting on the bench after Justice Pancholi's tenure ends in May 2033 to have a shot at the office. Of the sitting HC Chief Justices, only three clear that bar: Justices Pushpendra Singh Bhati, Alpesh Yeshvant Kogje and Ashwani Kumar Mishra – all three appointed last week.

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Apurva Vishwanath is the National Legal Editor at The Indian Express, where she leads the organization's coverage of the Indian judiciary, constitutional law, and public policy. A law graduate with a B.A., LL.B (Hons) from Dr. Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law University, Apurva brings over a decade of specialized experience to her reporting. She is an authority on judicial appointments and the Supreme Court Collegium, providing critical analysis of the country's legal landscape. Before joining The Indian Express in 2019, she honed her expertise at The Print and Mint. Follow her insights on the intersection of law and governance on Twitter.

For now, next on Collegium agenda: Filling up vacancies in Supreme Court remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.