Centre notifies appointment of Justice Joymalya Bagchi to be new SC judge

Centre notified the President’s appointment of Calcutta High Court judge, Justice Joymalya Bagchi, as a Supreme Court judge
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

The Centre notified the President’s appointment of Calcutta High Court judge, Justice Joymalya Bagchi, as a Supreme Court judge on Monday (March 10, 2025).

Justice Bagchi is in line to be Chief Justice of India in 2031.

The Supreme Court Collegium had recommended Justice Bagchi’s name to the government on March 6.

In its March 6 resolution, the Collegium had stated that there has not been a Chief Justice of India from the Calcutta High Court after the retirement of Justice Altamas Kabir on July 18, 2013.

The resolution had made it clear that regional representation was as important a criterion as integrity and merit in judicial appointments.

Justice Bagchi would have a tenure of more than six years before he assumed the office of the Chief Justice of India. As per seniority norm, Justice Bagchi would take over the office of the CJI in May 2031 and continue till his retirement on October 2, 2031.

The Collegium, while zeroing in on Justice Bagchi, had also taken into consideration the fact that, at present, the Bench of the Supreme Court was represented by only one judge from the Calcutta High Court, Justice Dipankar Datta.

Justice Bagchi was appointed judge of the High Court at Calcutta on June 27, 2011 and transferred to the Andhra Pradesh High Court on January 4, 2021. He was repatriated to the Calcutta High Court on November 8, 2021 and has been functioning there since then. He has served as a judge of the High Court for more than 13 years.