Justice BV Nagarathna set to be India's first woman Chief Justice in 2027

New Delhi: Justice BV Nagarathna could become the first woman Chief Justice of India in 2027 as the Supreme Court Collegium headed by Chief Justice of India N V Ramana is reported to have recommended nine judges, including three women judges, to the appointment as apex court judges.

Presently a judge in the Karnataka High Court, justice Nagarathna is among the three women judges whose names were cleared by the Supreme Court collegium on Tuesday evening.

Led by Chief Justice NV Ramana, the Supreme Court collegium had recommended the name of nine judges for the elevation to the top court.

Justice Nagarathna started as a lawyer at Bengaluru and was appointed as an additional judge in the Karnataka HC in February 2008. She was made a permanent judge two years later.

Justice Nagarathna's father, ES Venkataramiah, was the CJI for almost six months in 1989. If cleared by the Union government, justice Nagarathna will be the CJI for a little over a month in 2027.

Justice Hima Kohi and Justice Bela Trivedi are the other two women judges in the list of recommendations.

There have been demands for India to have a woman, Chief Justice.

Ahead of his retirement, former Chief Justice of India SA Bobde had said that " the time has come for India to have a woman, Chief Justice".

"We have the interest of women in our minds, and we are implementing it best. There is no attitude change in us. The only thing is we have to get good candidates," he had said in April.