Justice Joymalya Bagchi elevated to Supreme Court

In a notification issued by the Ministry of Law & Justice, the government said, “In exercise of the power conferred by the Constitution of India, the President of India, after consultation with Chief Justice of India, is pleased to appoint Joymalya Bagchi, Judge, Calcutta High Court Appointed as a Judge of the Supreme Court of India”

The Collegium of the Supreme Court in a statement on March 6 had said it had recommended Justice Bagchi’s name to the government for appointment to the apex court.

“The Supreme Court Collegium in its meeting held on 6th March, 2025, deliberated on and discussed the name of Chief Justices and senior puisne Judges of the High Courts eligible for appointment to Supreme Court,” the statement read.

It went on to state further that after carefully evaluating merit, integrity and competence and also accommodating a plurality of considerations, “the collegium has recommended appointment of Mr Justice Joymalya Bagchi, presently a Judge of the High Court at Calcutta, as a judge of the Supreme Court”.     

In the statement the Supreme Court also mentioned the fact that the Collegium reasoned that after the retirement of Justice Altamas Kabir on July 18, 2013 as Chief Justice of India, there has not been any Chief Justice of India from the High Court at Calcutta.

It said, “On the retirement of Mr. Justice KV Viswanathan on May 25, 2031, Justice Joymalya Bagchi would be in line to assume office as the Chief Justice of India till his retirement on October 2, 2031.”

Therefore, it meant that Justice Bagchi would have a tenure of more than six years before he assumed the charge of the office of the Chief Justice of India.

The Collegium also said that it also took into consideration the fact that, at present, “the Bench of the Supreme Court is represented by only one Judge from the High Court at Calcutta” and Justice Bagchi “stands at Sl. No. 11 in the combined all-India seniority of the High Court Judges, including the Chief Justices".

Now with Justice Bagchi joining the apex court, the Supreme Court will have only one vacancy against the total strength of 34 judges including the Chief Justice of India.

Meanwhile in the same notification issued by the Ministry of Law & Justice, the government also approved names of Additional Judges - Wasim Sadiq Nargal, Mohd. Yousuf Wani and Rajesh Sekhri – as the Judges of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court.