With the appointment of Supreme Court judge Justice Joymalya Bagchi, line of succession for the Chief Justice of India till 2031 is clear if convention is followed. Justice Bagchi’s recommendation superseded the names of at least ten senior judges.
The appointment of Justice Bagchi raises the judicial strength of the Supreme Court to 33 against the sanctioned strength of 34 judges. Bagchi will assume the office of CJI upon the retirement of Justice K.V. Viswanathan on May 25, 2031. His tenure will last till his retirement on October 2, 2031, which is just five months. Justice Bagchi will have a tenure of over six years in the Supreme Court as judge including his tenure of five months as CJI.
How does the line of succession of CJI work?
The lineup of upcoming Chief Justices of India is nearly finalized, with only unforeseen events like death, early retirement, or impeachment potentially altering the sequence. As per convention, the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court is typically appointed as the next chief justice.
Though the Supreme Court judges retire at 65 years of age, but for becoming CJI, the date on which the judge was appointed to the top court plays a crucial role rather than his age. In case two judges are elevated to the Supreme Court on the same date, the one who takes oath first will get the priority followed by the judge who has put in more years of High Court’s service. Unlike other Constitution posts, the post of Chief Justice of India doesn't have a fixed tenure.
Y.V. Chandrachud, the father of the last CJI, had the longest tenure of seven years and four months (1978-1985) as the Chief Justice of India since the Supreme Court’s inception in 1950. The shortest tenure of a CJI was of Justice K.N. Singh, for 17 days.
The Law Commission of India’s recommendation that the Chief Justice of India should have a minimum tenure of two years in the Supreme Court reveals that the future CJIs, based on their seniority, no judge would be able to stay there beyond a year and a half.
According to legal experts, short tenure of the judges in the top court which is already fighting with the pendency of over three crore cases will not only hamper the chances of clearing the backlog but also reduce the chances for any CJI to implement new changes and bring in policy that will help in improving the present system.
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Also, CJI and the four senior-most judges of the Supreme Court, forming the Collegium, decide appointments to the Supreme Court. So for making future appointments of judges to the top court, the role of CJI is very crucial.
Justice Bagchi enrolled as an advocate on November 28, 1991. He was then appointed as a permanent judge of the Calcutta High Court, on June 27, 2011. In 2020, he was transferred to the Andhra Pradesh High Court. On November 8, 2021, he was repatriated to the Calcutta High Court.