Justice BV Nagarathna is in line to become the first woman Chief Justice of India in 2027.
Led by Chief Justice NV Ramana, the Supreme Court Collegium has recommended the names of nine judges for the elevation to the top court.
Justice BV Nagarathna was appointed as an Additional Judge of the High Court of Karnataka in 2008 and as a permanent judge nearly two years later. Nagarathna is presently a judge with the Karnataka High Court and has been recommended by the Collegium.
If she successfully claims the position, she would be following in the footsteps of her father ES Venkataramiah, who was the Chief Justice of India between June 1989 and December 1989.
The two other women judges in the list of recommendations by the five-member Collegium are Justice Hima Kohli and Justice Bela Trivedi.
Justice Hima Kohli became the first woman to hold the post of Chief Justice of Telangana High Court back in January. She has also been a judge for the Delhi High Court in the year 2006.
Justice Bela Trivedi is currently a judge in the Gujarat High Court. In May, she criticised the Gujarat government over fire at a Covid hospital that killed 18 people. It “amounts to the contemptuous action on the part of the state for not being vigilant so that such incidents are not repeated again and again,” she had told the government.
“The time has come for India to have a woman Chief Justice,” former Chief Justice of India SA Bobde had said ahead of his retirement.
“We have the interest of women in our minds, and we are implementing it best. There is no attitude change in us. The only thing is we have to get good candidates,” he had said in April.
Chief Justice Ramana has also said earlier that it’s time for a woman to head the judiciary.
Other judges who have been recommended by the Collegium are Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka, Justice Vikram Nath, Justice JK Maheshwari, Justice CT Ravikumar and Justice MM Sundresh.
