India Set to Get Its First Female Chief Justice: Who Is Justice BV Nagarathna?
Supreme Court Judge Justice BV Nagarathna could become India’s first female Chief Justice. If the current line of succession remains unchanged, she could take the oath for the country’s highest judicial office on September 24, 2027.
Supreme Court Judge Justice BV Nagarathna could become India’s first female Chief Justice. If the current line of succession remains unchanged, she could take the oath for the country’s highest judicial office on September 24, 2027.
Justice BV Nagarathna: A new golden chapter is set to be added to the history of the Indian judiciary. Supreme Court Judge Justice BV Nagarathna could become India’s first female Chief Justice. If the current line of succession remains unchanged, she could take the oath for the country’s highest judicial office on September 24, 2027.
She would hold this position until her retirement on October 29, 2027. Recently, she has once again become a subject of nationwide discussion following her oral observations on November 6, 2026, regarding the accountability of government employees. Let us take a look at who Justice BV Nagarathna is.
Justice BV Nagarathna was born on October 30, 1962, in Bengaluru. She is the daughter of E.S. Venkataramiah, the 19th Chief Justice of India. In 1984, she earned a B.A. (Honours) degree in History from Jesus and Mary College, University of Delhi. Subsequently, she completed her legal studies at the Campus Law Centre, University of Delhi, and obtained her LL.B. degree in 1987.
She began her legal practice in Bengaluru in 1987. Over the years, she has practiced extensively in the fields of constitutional, administrative, commercial, and family law. Justice B.V. Nagarathna was appointed as an Additional Judge of the Karnataka High Court on February 8, 2008, and became a permanent judge on February 17, 2010. She was the first woman to be elevated to the High Court directly from the Karnataka Bar. After serving in the High Court for nearly 13 years, she took the oath as a judge of the Supreme Court on August 21, 2021, following a notification issued by the Central Government.
Justice B.V. Nagarathna is particularly noted for her independent and fearless judicial opinions within the Supreme Court’s Constitution Benches. In January 2023, a five-judge Constitution Bench, by a 4:1 majority, upheld the government’s decision on demonetization. Justice B.V. Nagarathna was the sole dissenting judge on the bench; she held that such a significant financial decision should have been enacted through legislation in Parliament rather than by way of an ordinance.
In 2024, in a case heard by a nine-judge Constitution Bench, she delivered a dissenting opinion (in an 8:1 verdict), arguing that allowing states to levy separate taxes on minerals would lead to double taxation.
Separately, on November 6, 2026, while hearing a petition concerning the outstanding dearness allowance of Punjab government employees, a bench comprising Justice B.V. Nagarathna and Justice R. Mahadevan orally remarked that the accountability of government employees should be established alongside the pensions and benefits they receive. Her observations—which touched upon the pace of work among employees and the practice of contractual appointments—drew significant attention within administrative circles.
