THE OUTGOING CHIEF JUSTICE OF INDIA (CJI), Justice B. R. Gavai, has placed in the public domain data regarding the number of recommendations made by the Collegium headed by him for appointments to the High Courts, along with the social background of the candidates concerned.
Justice Gavai has followed the practice initiated by his immediate predecessor, Justice Sanjiv Khanna, who for the first time released data on appointments of judges to the High Courts approved by the Supreme Court Collegium during his tenure as CJI (November 11, 2024, to May 13, 2025).
The data also disclosed the social background of the judges, indicating whether they belonged to Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST), Other Backward Classes (OBC), minority communities, or were women.
The data uploaded on the Supreme Court’s website by CJI Gavai shows that from May 14, 2025—the day Justice Gavai assumed office as CJI and thus became head of the Collegium—a total of 129 names were considered for appointment to the High Courts.
Of these, the Supreme Court Collegium approved only 93 names. Among the approved candidates:
11 belonged to the OBC/BC category
10 belonged to the SC category
13 belonged to minority communities
15 were women
5 were relatives of sitting or former judges
