Supreme Court Judges Appointments: Collegium System and Nepotism in Judiciary

The Supreme Court of India, arguably one of the most sacred institutions of Indian democracy and the guardian of the Constitution has at least 13 Judges with a family background in lawyership or judgeship. The former Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dhananjaya Y. Chandrachud comes from the Chandrachud family. His father Yeshwant Vishnu Chandrachud was the 16th Chief Justice of India. The newly appointed CJI Sanjeev Khanna is the son of Justice Dev Raj Khanna, a judge from the Delhi High Court. He is also the nephew of the Late Hans Raj Khanna, the SC Judge known for propounding the basic structure doctrine. The next CJI in line, Justice B.R. Gavai who is set to assume office after May 2025 is the son of R. S Gavai, a former Member of Parliament and Governor in three states.

It is not a coincidence that the apex Court has such a high number of judges from influential families in the legal profession. Behind this elitism and apparent nepotism in the judiciary lies an ill-defined, opaque appointment process called the Collegium system in which the sitting judges recommend new names to fill vacancies.

Unfortunately, there are no well-defined criteria for the appointment process of the SC judges other than those laid down in Article 124 of the Constitution of India and the Supreme Court Collegium resulting from its interpretation. The Collegium consists of CJI and four senior-most judges. These judges’ opinions are considered while making recommendations for new appointments in the SC. These opinions are often subject to human bias and may nurture nepotism in the judiciary.

The lower level of judicial architecture has a more meaningfully defined merit-based appointment system. Judicial magistrates are selected through judicial services examination which looks more just and open to all, unlike the closed-door appointment system at the level of the High Courts and the Supreme Court.

If we look at the current batch of Supreme Court Judges, at least 13 judges including the CJI himself, have well-established backgrounds in the legal profession. This raises the question of whether the office of the apex court is open to all or reserved mostly for those already established in the profession for generations.

A closer look at almost all the previous Supreme Court judges and even those holding the highest offices of High Courts would reveal that a majority of these positions are filled by close ones of senior judges/advocates or former judges/advocates.

As of November 2024, The Supreme Court has seen 51 CJIs post-independence. Of the ten former CJIs, only two CJIs come from non-law families. The brief details are given below.

1. Justice D Y Chandrachud 

The 50th CJI D Y Chandrachud is the son of 16th CJI Yeshwant Vishnu Chandrachud (22 February 1978-11 July 1985), the longest-serving CJI. The two sons of D Y Chandrachud, Abhinav and Chintan Chandrachud are practising lawyers in the Bombay High Court.

2. Justice Uday Umesh Lalit

The 49th CJI of India, U U Lalit was born to U. R. Lalit, a former additional judge of the Bombay High Court and a senior advocate practising at the Supreme Court of India. One of the two sons of Justice U U Lalit is a senior advocate in the Supreme Court, while his grandfather Ranganath Lalit, was a lawyer in Solapur during British rule. 

3. N V Ramana: 48th CJI from an agrarian family

4. Sharad Arvind Bobde

The 47th CJI S A Bodbe belongs to an eminent lawyers’ family. His great-grandfather, Ramachandra Pant Bobde, and grandfather, Shrinivas Ramachandra Bobde were lawyers of their time. His father, Arvind Shrinaivas Bodbe was the advocate-general of Maharashtra in 1980 and 1985, while his elder brother late Vinod Arvind Bobde was a senior Supreme Court lawyer. 

5. Ranjan Gogoi

The 46th CJI, Ranjan Gogoi comes from a political family. His father Kesab Chandra Gogoi was an Indian National Congress politician who later became the Chief Minister of Assam in 1982. Justice Gogoi has two children, a son Raktim Gogoi and a daughter Rashmi Gogoi. Both of them are advocates.

6. Dipak Misra

The 45th CJI is the nephew of 21st CJI Ranganath Misra from 1900-91. Ranganath Misra was among those few CJIs who later became members of Parliament in Rajyasabha.

7. Jagdish Singh Khehar

He was the 44th CJI. All three of his sons Tarunveer, Karanveer and Birender are practising lawyers.

8. Tirath Singh Thakur

He served as the 43rd CJI. He started legal practice at his father Devi Das Thakur’s chamber in Jammu and Kashmir. Devi Das Thakur later became a judge in the Jammu and Kashmir High Court. After resigning from that position, he became a state cabinet minister and later governor of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. His son Sharan Dev Singh Thakur is a senior advocate of the Supreme Court of India from Jammu and Kashmir.

9. Handyala Lakshminarayanaswamy Dattu (H L Dattu)

42nd CJI, his father H L Narayanaswamy was an English teacher.

10. Rajendra Mal Lodha

41st CJI R M Lodha was born to Justice S K Mal Lodha, a former Judge of the Rajasthan High Court. He is from the Jain-Oswal family, known for their influence in Rajasthan Judiciary. 

Appointment of Judges in the Supreme Court: Provisions

Article 124 (1) deals with the appointment of judges in the Supreme Court. 

What are other criteria for SC Judge?

The person recommended to fill the vacancy should meet the constitutional provisions as mentioned in Article 124 (3). These are;

1. A person must be a citizen of India
2. (a) He/she has been for at least five years a judge of a High Court or, of two or more such Courts in succession, or (b) has been for at least ten years an advocate of a High Court or, of two or more such Courts in succession; or (c) is, in the opinion of the President, a distinguished jurist.

Evolution of SC Collegium System 

The word “Consultation” under Article 124 (2) has been interpreted by the Supreme Court in the three judges’ cases. It has resulted in the evolution of the Collegium system for the appointment of judges.

Judiciary vs Executive: Tussle over separation of power

The Collegium system is also a matter of friction between the judiciary and the executive. The central government had earlier passed the National Judicial Appointment Commission Act, 2014 to replace the Collegium system. However, the Act was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court on grounds of being violative of the principle of separation of power and threatening the independence of the judiciary. 

The Collegium system has been subject to criticism. However, the Supreme Court has called it the “Law of the land” and comments against it are “not well taken”. Executive versus judiciary conflict often results in undue delay in the appointment of judges if the executive feels that the recommended person is not to their liking.

The way forward: Reforms in judiciary appointments?

While the independence of the judiciary must be given paramount importance, the Collegium system left at the mercy of the opinions of the sitting Supreme Court judges means the appointment process remains flawed. The opinions of the Collegium judges cannot be quantifiable and consistent. Very often the judges are elevated from High Courts to the Supreme Court without considering the criteria of all-India seniority and experience. For example, Justice J.B. Pardiwala superseded 48 senior High Court judges while being elevated to the Supreme Court. Justice Sudhanshi Dhulia superseded 29 judges. This also undermines the right to equal opportunity while keeping the highest post of the judiciary for some families.

The apex Court needs a well-defined system for the appointment of judges. A screening process that quantifies the seniority, academic qualifications, experience, disposal of cases and other such elements can bring merit to the appointment process.

The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Act 2019 increased the number of judges in the Supreme Court from 30 to 33. The current composition of Supreme Court judges is given below in the table.

List of  Supreme Court Judges in India 2025

Source: Supreme Court of India

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