India May Get Its First Woman Chief Justice By 2027

India may get its first woman Chief Justice (CJI) by 2027. According to reports, the SC collegium has approved nine names, and three out of these nine judges, can become the CJI during their tenure at the apex court. This list includes justice BV Nagarathna, who if elevated now, could be the Chief Justice of India in 2027 for little over a month.

According to sources close to the state of affairs, the other names cleared by the collegium include that of two more women judges, and one direct appointment from the Supreme Court bar. Apart from justice Nagarathna, the two women approved by the five-member collegium are justice Hima Kohli, the chief justice of Telangana HC, and justice Bela Trivedi, a judge in the Gujarat HC.

For the direct appointment to the bench, the collegium selected senior advocate PS Narasimha. Narasimha’s recommendation comes less than a week after the retirement of justice Rohinton F Nariman, who, incidentally, was only the fifth lawyer in India’s legal history, to be a direct appointment from the bar.