Centre Notifies Appointment of Chief Justices to Eight High Courts; All 25 High Courts Now Have Regular Chief Justices
The Central Government has notified the appointment of Chief Justices to eight High Courts, following recommendations of the Supreme Court Collegium. Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal announced the appointments on September 5, stating that the President had appointed the respective High Court judges as Chief Justices in consultation with the Chief Justice of India.
The eight appointments are:
- Justice Valluri Kameswar Rao – Chief Justice of the Patna High Court
- Justice Ravindra V. Ghuge – Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court
- Justice Sanjay Kumar Agrawal – Chief Justice of the Rajasthan High Court
- Justice Mahesh Chandra Tripathi – Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court
- Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra – Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court
- Justice Krushna Ram Mohapatra – Chief Justice of the Chhattisgarh High Court
- Justice Alpesh Yeshvant Kogje – Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court
- Justice Pushpendra Singh Bhati – Chief Justice of the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh.
All 25 High Courts Now Have Regular Chief Justices
The latest appointments assume particular significance as all 25 High Courts in the country will now have regular Chief Justices. Several High Courts had been functioning under Acting Chief Justices following retirements and elevations of their previous Chief Justices to the Supreme Court.
Four of the vacancies had arisen after the elevation of Chief Justices of the Punjab & Haryana, Bombay, Madhya Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Courts to the Supreme Court in June 2026.
The appointments also complete the present exercise of filling vacancies in the top judicial offices of the High Courts. The Supreme Court Collegium is now expected to turn its attention towards vacancies in the Supreme Court.
The Collegium had made recommendations for several of these appointments during its meetings in August, with further recommendations made on August 31 for some of the High Courts. The Centre subsequently issued the formal notifications on September 5.
The appointments are expected to provide greater institutional stability to the respective High Courts, particularly in relation to administrative functioning, constitution of benches, allocation of judicial work and overall case management.
