New Delhi: Four new Judges were sworn-in yesterday at the Supreme Court (SC), two of whom will go on to be the Chief Justices of India (CJI) in the line of seniority. Justice B.R. Gavai will become the CJI for over six months in 2025. He will be the second CJI from the Scheduled Caste community after Justice (retd.) K.G. Balakrishnan.

Justice Surya Kant will succeed Justice Gavai as the CJI in November 2025. He will remain in office till February 2027. The two other Judges sworn-in on May 24 are Jharkhand High Court and Gauhati High Court Chief Justices Aniruddha Bose and Ajjikuttira S. Bopanna.

On May 8, the Collegium led by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi had refused the Government’s request to reconsider the elevation of these two Judges to the apex Court. The Collegium’s reiteration had made it binding on the Government to clear their appointments. With these four new appointments, the Supreme Court will function with its full sanctioned judicial strength of 31 Judges.

Justice A.S. Bopanna was appointed as a Judge of the Karnataka High Court on Jan. 6, 2006 and was elevated as Chief Justice of Gauhati High Court on Oct. 29, 2018. Justice Bopanna stands at Sl. No.36 in the combined seniority of High Court Judges on all-India basis. He is probably the first Judge from Kodava community to be a Supreme Court Judge.

Justice Bopanna was born in 1959 and enrolled as an advocate on Nov. 21, 1984, practised in civil, constitutional, company and service matters in the High Court as well as the civil and labour courts. He also worked as a Legal Advisor to Central Public Sector Undertakings, and worked as Additional Central Government Standing Counsel from 1999 to 2005.

Justice Bopanna was appointed as an Additional Judge of the High Court of Karnataka on Jan.6, 2006, and became a permanent Judge on Jan.3, 2007. He is the son of late Ajjikuttira N. Somaiah of Pollibetta, Kodagu.