Bombay HC's Senior Judge Justice AS Chandurkar Elevated To Supreme Court; Centre Appoints 2 Other High Court Chief Justices

Mumbai: The Centre on Thursday notified the elevation of Justice AS Chandurkar of the Bombay High Court as a judge of the Supreme Court. His appointment follows the Supreme Court Collegium’s recommendation on May 26, led by Chief Justice of India BR Gavai, for his elevation.

Justice Chandurkar, currently the seniormost judge at the HC, will serve as a Supreme Court judge till April 6, 2030, when he attains the retirement age of 65.

Along with him, the Centre has also notified the appointments of Karnataka High Court Chief Justice N V Anjaria and Gauhati High Court Chief Justice Vijay Bishnoi to the apex court.

Born on April 7, 1965, Justice Chandurkar completed his schooling at St. Vincent’s High School, Pune, and pursued further education at Ness Wadia College and ILS Law College, Pune.

He began practicing law on July 21, 1988, under senior advocate BN Naik in Mumbai, later shifting to Nagpur in 1992. He authored two books on local governance and rent control laws in Maharashtra.

Justice Chandurkar was appointed as an additional judge of the Bombay High Court on June 21, 2013, and served as the administrative judge at its Nagpur bench.

Known for several notable judgments, he led a division bench that, in June 2024, upheld a college dress code in Chembur banning hijabs and other religious identifiers, ruling that it did not infringe upon the students’ fundamental rights.

In September 2024, he concurred with Justice Gautam Patel in striking down the amended IT Rules empowering the government’s Fact Check Unit to identify “fake news” on social media, terming them unconstitutional and violative of Articles 14 and 19.

In October 2024, Justice Chandurkar stayed the Maharashtra government’s move to reclaim over 116 acres of industrial land in Kandivali’s Charkop area. In March 2025, he dismissed a plea by a Dalit PhD student challenging his suspension by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) for alleged misconduct and anti-national activities.

Recently, he questioned the Maharashtra government over the pending heritage status for Veer Savarkar’s residence in Shivaji Park and barred any changes to the property’s status till June 13. That same month, he also led a bench that ruled compensation under the Motor Vehicles Act should not be reduced by amounts received from mediclaim or insurance policies.