Justice BV Nagarathna could become India's first female Chief Justice

A new golden chapter is set to be added to the history of the Indian judiciary. Senior Supreme Court judge Justice BV Nagarathna could become the first female Chief Justice of India. According to a report by ABP News, if the current seniority remains unchanged, she may take oath for the country's highest judicial office on September 24, 2027. Following her appointment to this post, she will hold the responsibility until her retirement on October 29, 2027.

She has once again become a centre of discussion across the country following her oral remarks on November 6, 2026, regarding the responsibilities of government employees. During the hearing of a petition related to the pending dearness allowance of government employees in Punjab, a bench comprising Justice BV Nagarathna and Justice R. Madhavan orally stated that along with the pensions and facilities received by government employees, their responsibilities should also be determined. Along with this, she spoke about considering the pace of employees' work and aspects of contract appointments, which drew significant attention in the administrative sector.

Justice BV Nagarathna is known for her independent and fearless judicial opinions in the constitutional benches of the Supreme Court. In January 2023, a five-member constitutional bench upheld the government's demonetisation decision with a 4:1 majority, but Justice BV Nagarathna was the sole judge to disagree with this decision. She believed that such a major financial decision should have been taken by enacting a law in Parliament rather than through an ordinance.

Furthermore, in 2024, diverging from an 8:1 decision of a 9-member constitutional bench, she argued that if states were permitted to levy separate taxes on minerals, it would create a situation of double taxation.

Justice BV Nagarathna was born on October 30, 1962, in Bengaluru. She is the daughter of India's 19th Chief Justice, E.S. Venkataramiah. She obtained her BA Honours degree in History from Jesus and Mary College of Delhi University in 1984. Subsequently, she studied law at the Campus Law Centre of Delhi University and received her LLB degree in 1987.

She began her legal practice in 1987 from Bengaluru, where she practiced for a long time in the fields of constitutional, administrative, professional, and family law. On February 8, 2008, she was appointed as an additional judge of the Karnataka High Court and became a permanent judge on February 17, 2010. She was the first woman to become a High Court judge directly from the Karnataka Bar. After serving in the High Court for nearly 13 years, she took oath as a judge of the Supreme Court on August 21, 2021, under the instructions of the Central Government.