Justice BV Nagarathna, slated to be the first woman Chief Justice of India, will become part of the Supreme Court Collegium from May 25 with Justice Abhay S Oka, one of the incumbent members of the Collegium, demitting office today..The Collegium which consists of five senior-most judges of the Supreme Court, is responsible for appointing judges to the Supreme Court as well as deciding on the transfer of High Court judges. The three senior-most judges make the decisions on appointment of judges to High Courts.When CJI Gavai's tenure began, the Collegium comprised Justices Surya Kant, Abhay S Oka, Vikram Nath and JK Maheshwari.Justice Oka retires from office today, May 24, leaving a spot open in the Collegium.Being the fifth senior most judge now, Justice Nagarathna will officially become part of the collegium from tomorrow and will be part of it until she retires as Chief Justice of India in 2027..Justice Nagarathna will be the 55th Chief Justice of India and the first ever woman Chief Justice of India. However, her tenure as CJI will be only for 36 days from September 24 to October 29, 2027 - the third shortest tenure of a CJI in the top court's history.Justice Nagarathna is the daughter of Justice ES Venkataramiah, the 19th Chief Justice of India.She started practicing law in 1987 initially with KESVY & Co, Advocates. She moved to independent practice in 1994, focusing on administrative, constitutional, commercial and family laws.In February 2008, she was appointed as an additional judge of the Karnataka High Court and was made permanent in 2010.She was elevated to the Supreme Court on August 31, 2021.As a judge of the Supreme Court, she has been part of many Constitution Bench judgments and has delivered strong dissenting opinions in several of them such as the cases concerning the royalty paid by mining operators to the Centre, the power of States to levy tax on industrial alcohol, etc.Justice Nagarathna was the sole dissenter in the Constitution Bench verdict which upheld the Central government's 2016 Demonetisation Scheme. She opined that the RBI had not applied its mind while considering the demonetisation proposal sent by the government..You can read more about the other current members of the Collegium here.
