Collegium torn over the selection of Woman Judge to SC

• The Supreme Court's five-member collegium, chaired by Chief Justice S A Bobde, could not agree on whether to nominate Justice B V Nagarathna, a Karnataka High Court judge, for appointment as a judge of the Supreme Court, since some said it would result in the supersession of many HC Chief Justices who are much more senior than her.

• After Justice Surya Kant retires as CJI in February 2027, CJI Bobde and another judge put Justice Nagarathna's name before the collegium, which included Justices N V Ramana, R F Nariman, U U Lalit, and A M Khanwilkar, in the hopes that if she got through the line of review and the government nominated her, she would become the first woman CJI.

• However, some members of the collegium argued that proposing Justice Nagarathna's name, also in the women's quota, would result in the expulsion of many HC chief justices, including Justice Abhay S Oak (Karnataka) and two other senior judges from Karnataka — Justice L Narayana Swamy (current CJ of Himachal HC and a Scheduled Caste) and Justice Ravi V Malimath (current CJ of Himachal (senior judge in Himachal Pradesh and belonging to OBC community).