What Supreme Court Collegium will look like under Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud

The Collegium system of appointing judges, regardless of whatever criticism has been thrown at it, seems to be here to stay for the near future.

Consisting of the five senior-most judges of the Supreme Court, including the Chief Justice of India, the Collegium is currently responsible for the appointment and transfer of judges in constitutional courts across the country.

Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud, who assumed office as the 50th Chief Justice of India on November 9, 2022, will have one of the longest tenures as CJI in the last ten years.

As a result, the Collegium during CJI Chandrachud's two-year tenure will undergo a sea change, with as many as eleven judges being part of the body at various points.

These judges are:

• Justice SK Kaul

• Justice S Abdul Nazeer (now retired)

• Justice KM Joseph (now retired)

• Justice MR Shah (now retired)

• Justice Ajay Rastogi (now retired)

• Justice Sanjiv Khanna

• Justice BR Gavai

• Justice Surya Kant

• Justice Aniruddha Bose

• Justice AS Bopanna

• Justice Hrishikesh Roy

So far, the Collegium headed by CJI Chandrachud has issued 69 resolutions recommending appointments and transfers of judges.

In this article, we take a closer look at the Collegium and its members over the course of CJI Chandrachud's tenure.

Term: November 9, 2022 to May 14, 2023

Members: CJI Chandrachud and Justices SK Kaul, S Abdul Nazeer, KM Joseph, MR Shah and Sanjiv Khanna

Immediately after CJI Chandrachud took oath, the Collegium comprised six judges, instead of the usual five members.

Apart from the five senior-most judges, the Collegium for the first six months of CJI Chandrachud's tenure also had Justice Sanjiv Khanna as a member.

This is because Justice Khanna is the successor to CJI Chandrachud. Having a successor CJI in the Collegium is one of the requirements enumerated by the Supreme Court in its judgment in the third judges case.

During this tenure, the Collegium revealed in detail why the Central government objected to the candidature of various persons recommended by the judges' body for elevation to High Courts.

The move can be assumed to have been in response to widespread criticism of the Collegium system for its closed-door functioning, opacity and allegations of give-and-take compromises with the executive.

Once Justice Nazeer retired in January this year, Justice Ajay Rastogi took his place in the Collegium.

With the retirement of Justice MR Shah on May 15, the Collegium reverted to its usual strength of five.

Term: May 15, 2023 - December 25, 2023

Members: CJI Chandrachud and Justices SK Kaul, Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai and Surya Kant

With the retirement of Justices KM Joseph and Ajay Rastogi on June 16 and 17 respectively, the Collegium assumed a different composition.

The present Collegium comprises CJI Chandrachud and Justices SK Kaul, Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai and Surya Kant, among whom the last three will serve as Chief Justice of India at different points over the next four years.

More about the member judges

CJI Chandrachud

CJI Chandrachud practiced law before the Supreme Court and the Bombay High Court and served as Additional Solicitor General of India from 1998 until he was appointed as a judge of the Bombay High Court in March 2000.

He was later appointed as Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court and served in that capacity until he was elevated to the Supreme Court on May 13, 2016.

The CJI is also a visiting professor of  comparative constitutional law at  the University of Mumbai and a visiting professor at Oklahoma University School of Law, USA.

Justice SK Kaul

Justice Kaul was a lawyer practicing mainly in the commercial, civil, writ, original and company jurisdictions of the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court for nearly 20 years.

He was designated as a Senior Advocate in 1999 and over his career, he has been a senior counsel for the Delhi High Court and the Delhi University, and was on the senior panel of the Central government.

He was elevated as a judge of the Delhi High Court in 2001. After serving as Acting Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court, Chief Justice of the Punjab & Haryana High Court and Chief Justice of the Madras High Court, Justice Kaul was appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court of India in February 2017.

He will demit office on Decemeber 25, 2023.

Justice Sanjiv Khanna

Justice Khanna was elevated as a judge of the Supreme Court of India on January 18, 2019, after serving as a judge of the Delhi High Court for fourteen years.

Before his appointment as a judge, Justice Khanna was a lawyer with a practice spread across constitutional, company, taxation and environmental law, as well as arbitration and commercial matters. He also argued a number of criminal cases as a public prosecutor.

Justice Khanna's tenure as CJI will commence on November 11, 2024, when CJI Chandrachud demits office. He will spend around six months at the helm until his retirement on May 13, 2025.

Justice BR Gavai

Justice Gavai was a lawyer practicing before the Bombay High Court specialising in constitutional and administrative law, until he was elevated as a judge of that Court in 2003. He had also served as government pleader and public prosecutor during his time as a lawyer. He was elevated to the Supreme Court on May 24, 2019.

He was the first Dalit judge in nearly a decade to appointed to the top court and he will be the second ever Dalit Chief Justice of India after Justice KG Balakrishnan, who retired in 2010.

Justice Gavai will serve as CJI from May 14, 2025 to November 23, 2025.

Justice Surya Kant

Justice Kant was a lawyer specialising in constitutional, civil and service matters and was designated as a Senior Advocate in 2001.

He held the office of Advocate General, Haryana until his elevation as a permanent Judge to the Punjab & Haryana High Court on January 9, 2004. He later served as Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court.

His will have a tenure of over fourteen months as CJI, from November 24, 2025 to February 9, 2027.

Once Justice Kaul demits office in December this year, Justice Aniruddha Bose will become a member of the Collegium. After Justice Bose's retirement in April 2024, Justice AS Bopanna will take his place for just a on month, before being replaced by Justice Hrishikesh Roy.

From May 20, 2024 till his last day as Chief Justice of India, the Collegium headed by CJI Chandrachud will consist of Justices Sanjiv Khanna, Surya Kant, BR Gavai and Hrishikesh Roy.