The Supreme Court Collegium, led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna, has recommended the elevation of Justice Joymalya Bagchi of the Calcutta High Court to the Supreme Court of India, emphasizing the need for balanced regional representation.
NEW DELHI: On Monday, March 10, 2025, the Central Government , allowed the appointment of Justice Joymalya Bagchi, a sitting judge of the Calcutta High Court, to the Supreme Court of India. The Collegium led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna, recommended the elevation of Justice Joymalya Bagchi, to the Supreme Court of India.
The Collegium, which also comprises Justices B.R. Gavai, Surya Kant, Abhay S. Oka, and Vikram Nath, made the recommendation considering the fact that there is currently only one sitting judge from the Calcutta High Court in the Supreme Court — Justice Dipankar Datta.
The Collegium, while making its recommendation, also noted that since the retirement of Chief Justice Altamas Kabir on July 18, 2013, there has not been any Chief Justice of India (CJI) from the Calcutta High Court. Recognizing the importance of ensuring balanced regional representation, the Collegium found it appropriate to recommend Justice Bagchi’s appointment to the Supreme Court.
If Justice Bagchi is appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court, he will eventually ascend to the position of the Chief Justice of India (CJI) upon the retirement of Justice K.V. Viswanathan on May 25, 2031. His tenure as a judge of the Supreme Court would span over six years, and he would serve as the Chief Justice of India for a period of approximately five months before his retirement.
Supersession of Senior Judges from Calcutta High Court
The recommendation of Justice Bagchi has, however, resulted in the supersession of ten judges, including his immediate seniors from the Calcutta High Court. The superseded judges include:
- Justice Biswanath Sommader – Currently serving as the Chief Justice of the Sikkim High Court, he was appointed as a judge of the Calcutta High Court in 2006.
- Justice Indra Prasanna Mukerji – Presently functioning as the Chief Justice of the Meghalaya High Court, he was appointed to the Calcutta High Court in 2009.
- Justice Harish Tandon – Appointed to the Calcutta High Court in 2010, he has now been recommended for elevation as the Chief Justice of the Orissa High Court, a position that has remained vacant since January 19, 2025, following the retirement of Chief Justice Chakradhari Sharan Singh.
- Justice Soumen Sen – Another senior judge of the Calcutta High Court, appointed in 2010.
The decision to recommend Justice Bagchi despite the presence of these senior judges is being viewed as a notable development, given that conventionally, seniority is a significant consideration in the appointment of judges to the Supreme Court. However, the Collegium exercised its discretion to recommend Justice Bagchi based on merit, competence, and regional representation, thereby overlooking seniority in this instance.
Background of Justice Joymalya Bagchi
Justice Joymalya Bagchi began his judicial career when he was appointed as a judge of the Calcutta High Court on June 27, 2011. Subsequently, on January 4, 2021, he was transferred to the Andhra Pradesh High Court, where he served for a brief period. However, on November 8, 2021, he was repatriated to the Calcutta High Court, where he has been discharging his judicial duties since then.
His judicial acumen, coupled with his profound understanding of criminal and constitutional law, has earned him a distinguished reputation. The Collegium, while recommending his name, considered Justice Bagchi’s experience, competence, and overall contribution to the legal fraternity, which ultimately led to his recommendation for elevation to the Supreme Court.
Significance of the Appointment
If Justice Bagchi’s appointment is formally approved by the President of India, he will serve as a judge of the Supreme Court for a tenure of over six years. Moreover, upon the retirement of Justice K.V. Viswanathan on May 25, 2031, Justice Bagchi will be appointed as the Chief Justice of India, making him the second CJI from the Calcutta High Court in the history of the Supreme Court of India after Justice Altamas Kabir, who held the position from September 29, 2012, to July 18, 2013.
This recommendation also addresses the lack of regional representation in the Supreme Court from the Calcutta High Court, a concern that the Collegium acknowledged while finalizing its decision.
The recommendation, however, has generated considerable discussion within legal circles due to the supersession of senior judges, some of whom currently hold the position of Chief Justice in various High Courts. Nevertheless, the Collegium appears to have prioritized merit, competence, and the need for diverse regional representation in making its recommendation.
The final appointment is now subject to the formal approval of the President of India, after which Justice Bagchi will take his seat in the Supreme Court of India, potentially paving his way to becoming the Chief Justice of India in 2031.
Parallel with CJI Sanjiv Khanna’s Own Appointment Amid Supersession
A striking parallel has emerged between Justice Bagchi’s elevation and the appointment of CJI Sanjiv Khanna to the Supreme Court in 2019, which also involved the supersession of senior judges. When Justice Khanna was appointed to the Supreme Court, he superseded three senior judges from his parent Delhi High Court:
- Justice Pradeep Nandrajog
- Justice Gita Mittal
- Justice S. Ravindra Bhat
The recommendation to elevate Justice Khanna was made by the Collegium led by then CJI Ranjan Gogoi, along with Justices A.K. Sikri, S.A. Bobde, N.V. Ramana, and Arun Mishra. This decision was highly contentious, especially after it became public that the Collegium had initially recommended the elevation of Justices Rajendra Menon and Pradeep Nandrajog on December 12, 2018.
However, after the retirement of Justice Madan B. Lokur from the Collegium in December 2018, the newly constituted Collegium, which now included Justice Arun Mishra, took a “fresh look” at the previous recommendation and replaced the names with Justice Dinesh Maheshwari and Justice Sanjiv Khanna.
What fueled the controversy further was that the original resolution of December 12, 2018, recommending Justices Menon and Nandrajog, was never uploaded on the Supreme Court’s website, raising questions about the transparency of the decision. The subsequent resolution, dated January 10, 2019, simply stated that the Collegium had decided to reconsider the earlier decision after the winter break, without providing any concrete justification for dropping the names of Justices Menon and Nandrajog.
Notably, Justice S. Ravindra Bhat, who was also superseded during Justice Khanna’s elevation, was later elevated to the Supreme Court in September 2019, approximately eight months after Justice Khanna’s appointment.
The supersession of Justice Pradeep Nandrajog, in particular, drew strong dissent from sitting Supreme Court judge Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, who wrote to then CJI Ranjan Gogoi objecting to the decision, emphasizing that Justice Nandrajog was a highly competent and deserving judge.
Justice Ranjan Gogoi’s Justification for Superseding Senior Judges
The controversy surrounding Justice Khanna’s appointment was further amplified when former CJI Ranjan Gogoi, in his autobiography, justified his decision to appoint Justice Khanna by stating that if Justice Khanna was elevated at that point in time, he would go on to become the Chief Justice of India (CJI) in 2024.
Gogoi further added that since the Delhi High Court had not produced a Chief Justice of India since Justice Yogesh Kumar Sabharwal in 2006, his decision aimed to ensure representation from the Delhi High Court in the top office after almost twenty years.
This statement, however, raised serious concerns regarding the motivations behind judicial appointments, as it indicated a potential influence of long-term succession planning in the Supreme Court appointments, rather than purely assessing the competence of judges based on their performance and merit.
A Recurring Pattern of Controversial Recommendations
The appointment of Justice Bagchi, similar to Justice Khanna’s elevation, appears to reflect a pattern of superseding senior judges, particularly when there are long-term succession implications for the Chief Justice of India’s post.
With Justice Bagchi likely to become the Chief Justice of India in May 2031, the Collegium’s recommendation has once again ignited the debate about transparency, merit, and seniority in judicial appointments.
Although the Collegium’s primary justification for recommending Justice Bagchi revolves around ensuring regional representation from the Calcutta High Court, the simultaneous supersession of ten senior judges continues to draw widespread scrutiny.
This development has also revived questions about whether long-term succession planning continues to play a role in the appointment of Supreme Court judges, as was previously suggested during Justice Khanna’s elevation in 2019.
As the Supreme Court Collegium has only a narrow window until April 13, 2025, to make one more recommendation, all eyes are now on whether the Collegium will exercise its discretion to fill the remaining vacancy or leave it for CJI Khanna’s successor to address.
The unfolding scenario has once again brought to light the opaque nature of judicial appointments, reaffirming the long-standing concern that seniority, though traditionally respected, is increasingly being set aside in favor of regional, gender, and caste-based representation, as well as long-term succession planning for the post of Chief Justice of India.
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