Justice AM Khanwilkar to become a member of the Supreme Court Collegium

Justice Ajay Manikrao Khanwilkar is set to become a member of the Supreme Court Collegium after the retirement of Justice Arun Mishra. He is the fifth senior-most among the Judges of the Supreme Court.

Justice Khanwilkar was appointed as Judge of the Supreme Court on May 13, 2016 and will remain in the Collegium till the date of his retirement on July 29, 2022.

The Collegium will now comprise of the Chief Justice S.A. Bobde, Justice N.V. Ramana, Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman, Justice U.U. Lalit and Justice Khanwilkar.

The Collegium system was brought into existence by the Supreme Court through a judicial order in 1993, for recommending to the government the names of judges for appointment to High Courts, the Supreme Court as well as for the transfer of judges.

Justice Khanwilkar was enrolled as Advocate in February 1982 and he litigated for 18 years before his appointment as an Additional Judge of the Bombay High Court in March 2000 and confirmed as permanent Judge in April 2002.

He was later appointed as Chief Justice of the High Court of Himachal Pradesh in April 2013. Thereafter, he was appointed as Chief Justice of Madhya Pradesh High Court in November 2013.

Justice Khanwilkar was elevated as the Judge of Supreme Court of India and assumed charge in May 2016.

Justice Khanwilkar has been part of several noticeable judgments by Constitution benches during the tenure of then Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra. He was also part of a constitution bench that allowed the entry of women of all age groups into Kerala’s Sabarimala temple. However, a year later he joined the majority decision penned by the then CJI Ranjan Gogoi in a batch of review petitions filed against the Sabarimala verdict.

Justice Khanwilkar was also part of a Constitution bench, which held that the right to die with dignity is a fundamental right. He was part of the Constitution Bench that had upheld the validity of Aadhaar.