Meet BV Nagarathna, who could become India's first woman CJI in 2027

Currently, the strength of judges in the Supreme Court stands at 24 against the sanctioned posts of 34. If all nine recommendations are accepted, the strength would go up to 33. As per tradition, the incumbent chief justice will recommend the name of the seniormost judge in the Supreme Court as his successor. Legal luminaries, therefore, believe, that if the current recommendations are approved by the government, Justice Vikram Nath and Justice B.V. Nagarathna stand a chance to become CJI during their tenure.

If Nagarathna is elevated now, she stands a chance of becoming a CJI in 2027 as others will be retiring before her. Also, there has been a growing clamour for a woman CJI that makes her prospects bright.

Born in 1962, Nagarathna is the daughter of former CJI E.S. Venkataramiah, who was the chief justice for around six months in 1989. She started her legal career as an advocate in Bangalore in 1987. She joined the Karnataka High Court as an additional judge in 2008. She was made a permanent judge after two years.

Justice Nagarathna’s tenure at Karnataka HC has remained eventful on several occasions. In 2009, she continued hearing cases despite a call by protesting lawyers to boycott all proceedings in the court. She was also detained along with two other judges by a group of lawyers for carrying out her constitutional duty.

She was the part of division bench of the Karnataka HC in 2012 which directed the Union government to set up an autonomous and statutory framework for regulating broadcast media, including television channels.

In 2019, Justice Nagarathna and two other judges ruled that temple employees in Karnataka would not be entitled to gratuity under the Payments of Gratuity Act, 1972, as temples were not notified by the Union government as commercial establishments.