Members of the Supreme Court Collegium as of February 2025

On 31 January 2025, Justice Hrishikesh Roy retired as a judge of the Supreme Court. He was the fourth seniormost judge at the time and was a part of the Supreme Court Collegium. Justice Roy joined the Collegium on 11 July 2024, after the retirement of Justice Aniruddha Bose. He was involved in the appointment of four judges, of which two were under the Collegium led by CJI Chandrachud and two by CJI Khanna. 

With his retirement, Justice Vikram Nath joins the Collegium. The Supreme Court Collegium currently consists of Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justices B.R. Gavai, Surya Kant, A.S. Oka and Vikram Nath.

The Collegium is a group of the highest-ranking judges of the Supreme Court who are tasked with recommending candidates for appointments to the Supreme Court and High Courts. The system, though not prescribed by the Constitution, emerged through a series of judgements by the Supreme Court. It states that a full panel of the Chief Justice of India and four seniormost judges of the Supreme Court recommend judges for appointments in the top court. The CJI and the next two senior-most judges propose names for the High Court.

The current Collegium

The seniormost member is CJI Khanna who first appeared on a Collegium resolution dated 31 January 2023. Since then, he has been a part of recommending 14 judges. He will be part of the Collegium until 13 May 2025, when he retires. 

Justices Gavai and Kant appeared on a recommendation on 5 July 2023 in the Collegium led by CJI Chandrachud. They were involved in the appointment of 10 judges. Justice Gavai will lead the Collegium after CJI Khanna’s retirement and remain on the Collegium till his retirement on 23 November 2025. Justice Kant will inherit this role and remain in the Collegium until 9 February 2027.

Justice Oka joined the Collegium in November 2024, with CJI Chandrachud’s retirement. He has been a part of appointing two judges. He will remain on the Collegium until 25 May 2025.

Justice Nath is yet to be involved in the recommendation of a judge. He will be in the Collegium till 24 September 2027.

Currently, there are two vacancies in the Supreme Court that remain to be filled. 

Recommendations by the previous Collegium 

The previous collegium consisted of CJI Khanna, Justices B.R. Gavai, Surya Kant, Hrishikesh Roy and A.S. Oka. This Collegium appointed two judges—Justices Manmohan and K.V. Chandran.

Justice Manmohan’s recommendation was made two weeks before his retirement from the Delhi High Court. This means that instead of retiring at age 62 as a High Court Judge, Justice Manmohan will retire at 65. The resolution noted that he was second in the seniority list of high court judges. The collegium considered that his elevation would bring representation of the Delhi High Court in the Supreme Court, as CJI Khanna was the only judge from the capital at the time. 

Justice Chandran was appointed in January 2025 after Justice C.T. Ravikumar’s retirement. Justice Ravikumar hailed from the Kerala High Court, and was the only judge from Kerala at that time. The resolution specifically referred to Justice Chandran’s parent High Court in the resolution to suggest that his elevation was to maintain regional representation.