List of former chief justices of the high courts of India

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This Article is a consolidated list of former chief justices of all high courts of India. This list includes both permanent Chief Justices as well as known acting Chief Justices as official websites of all high courts except Punjab and Haryana High Court do not maintain list of former acting chief justices, thus reliable data about all the former acting chief justices is not readily available.

High Court of Judicature at Allahabad established on 17 March 1866 has have the maximum number of chief justices totalling 51 while Andhra Pradesh High Court established on 1 January 2019 has have least number of chief justices totalling 5 only as of 25 April 2026 (2026-04-25).

Date of initial appointment : Date of first appointment as High court judge

Allahabad High Court

The Allahabad High Court was established on 17 March 1866 under Indian High Courts Act 1861 and has had 50 Chief Justices[1][2] excluding Acting Chief Justices.

More information Sr. No., Name ...
Permanent Chief Justices
Sr. No. Name Portrait Date of Appointment Date of Retirement Tenure Parent High Court Date of initial Appointment Ref..
1 Walter Morgan 17 March 1866 21 November 1871[a] 5 years, 250 days Calcutta 1 July 1862
2 Robert Stuart 22 November 1871 31 October 1884 12 years, 345 days Bar -- [3]
3 William Comer Petheram 1 November 1884 23 March 1886[b] 1 year, 143 days Bar -- [4][5]
4 John Edge 27 May 1886 30 March 1898[RES] 11 years, 308 days Bar -- [6]
5 Louis Addin Kershaw 6 April 1898 11 November 1898[c] 220 days Bar -- [7][8]
6 Arthur Strachey 12 November 1898 14 May 1901[†] 2 years, 184 days Bombay 1895 [9]
7 John Stanley 17 August 1901 21 April 1911 9 years, 248 days Calcutta 1898 [10][11]
8 Henry George Richards 21 April 1911 28 October 1919 8 years, 191 days Allahabad 1905
9 Edward Grimwood Mears 29 October 1919 15 March 1932 12 years, 139 days Bar --
10 Shah Muhammad Sulaiman 16 March 1932 30 September 1937[‡][α] 5 years, 199 days Allahabad 1923
11 John Gibb Thom 1 October 1937 19 February 1941[†] 3 years, 142 days Bar --
12 Iqbal Ahmad 21 July 1941 16 September 1946 5 years, 58 days Allahabad 1933 [12][13]
13 Kamalkanta Verma 17 September 1946 14 October 1947[d] 1 year, 28 days Allahabad 1937
14 Bidhu Bhushan Malik 15 October 1947 11 January 1955 7 years, 89 days Allahabad 13 March 1944 [14]
15 Orby Howell Mootham 12 January 1955 16 February 1961 6 years, 36 days Allahabad 22 July 1946
16 Manulal Chunilal Desai 17 February 1961 24 February 1966 5 years, 8 days Allahabad 13 December 1948
17 Vashishtha Bhargava 25 February 1966 7 August 1966[‡] 164 days Allahabad 1 August 1949
18 Mirza Nasirullah Beg 24 September 1966 3 June 1967 253 days Allahabad 1 June 1951 [15]
19 Vidyadhar Govind Oak 4 June 1967 18 May 1971 3 years, 349 days Allahabad 31 March 1955
20 Shashi Kanta Verma 19 May 1971 5 November 1973 2 years, 171 days Allahabad 30 June 1958
21 Dhatri Saran Mathur 6 November 1973 13 November 1974 1 year, 8 days Allahabad 15 January 1959
22 Kunwar Bahadur Asthana 13 November 1974 9 May 1977 2 years, 178 days Allahabad 22 August 1961
23 Deshmudre Mallappa Chandrashekhar 10 May 1977 21 March 1978[e] 316 days
24 Satish Chandra 22 March 1978 28 November 1983[b] 5 years, 252 days Allahabad 7 October 1963 [16]
25 Mahesh Narain Shukla 12 April 1985 5 October 1985 177 days Allahabad 14 March 1969 [16]
26 Hridai Narain Seth 16 May 1986 17 August 1986[f] 94 days Allahabad 7 July 1969 [17]
27 Kalmanje Jagannatha Shetty 1 October 1986 30 April 1987[‡] 212 days
28 Dwarka Nath Jha 14 July 1987 15 July 1987 2 days Allahabad 6 August 1973 [18]
29 Amitav Banerji 26 April 1988 6 November 1988 195 days Allahabad
30 Brahma Nath Katju 7 November 1988 22 May 1989 197 days Allahabad
31 Benjaram Pranaya Jeevan Reddy 16 April 1990 6 October 1991[‡] 1 year, 174 days Andhra Pradesh 17 July 1975
32 Manoj Kumar Mukherjee 12 November 1991 8 January 1993[c] 1 year, 58 days Calcutta 17 June 1977
33 Sarvinder Singh Sodhi 29 April 1994 9 April 1995 346 days Punjab & Haryana 18 June 1982
34 Ambati Lakshman Rao 10 April 1995 14 January 1996 280 days Andhra Pradesh 10 December 1982
35 Deba Priya Mohapatra 16 February 1996 8 December 1998[‡] 2 years, 296 days Orissa 18 November 1983
36 Nirendra Krishna Mitra 12 February 1999 17 April 2000 1 year, 66 days Calcutta 20 December 1985
37 Shyamal Kumar Sen 18 July 2000 24 November 2002 2 years, 130 days Calcutta 17 January 1986
38 Tarun Chatterjee 31 January 2003 26 August 2004[‡] 1 year, 209 days Calcutta 6 August 1990
39 Ajoy Nath Ray 11 January 2005 26 January 2007[g] 2 years, 16 days Calcutta
40 Hemant Laxman Gokhale 7 March 2007 8 March 2009[a] 2 years, 2 days Bombay 20 January 1994
41 Chandramauli Kumar Prasad 20 March 2009 7 February 2010[‡] 325 days
42 Ferdino Inacio Rebello 26 June 2010 30 July 2011 1 year, 35 days Bombay 15 April 1996
43 Syed Rafat Alam 5 August 2011[h] 7 August 2012 1 year, 3 days
44 Shiva Kirti Singh 4 February 2013 18 September 2013[‡] 227 days
45 Dhananjaya Yeshwant Chandrachud 31 October 2013 12 May 2016[‡] 2 years, 195 days Bombay 29 March 2000
46 Dilip Babasaheb Bhosale 30 July 2016 23 October 2018 2 years, 86 days Bombay 22 January 2001
47 Govind Mathur 14 November 2018 13 April 2021 2 years, 151 days
48 Sanjay Yadav 13 June 2021 25 June 2021 13 days Madhya Pradesh 2 March 2007
49 Rajesh Bindal 11 October 2021 12 February 2023[‡] 1 year, 125 days Punjab & Haryana 22 March 2006
50 Pritinker Diwaker 26 March 2023 21 November 2023 241 days
51 Arun Bhansali 5 February 2024 Incumbent 2 years, 92 days 8 January 2013
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More information Name, From ...
Acting Chief Justices
Name From To Tenure Appointed due to Parent High Court Date of initial Appointment Ref..
Iqbal Ahmad 20 February 1941 20 July 1941[§] 151 days Death of CJ John Gibb Thom Allahabad 1933 [12][13]
Mirza Nasirullah Beg 8 August 1966 23 September 1966[§] 47 days Elevation of CJ V. Bhargava to SCI Allahabad 1 June 1951 [15]
Mahesh Narain Shukla 29 November 1983 11 April 1985[§] 1 year, 134 days Transfer of CJ Satish Chandra to Calcutta Allahabad 14 March 1969 [16]
Hridai Narain Seth 6 October 1985 15 May 1986[§] 222 days Retirement of CJ M. N. Shukla Allahabad 7 July 1969
N. D. Ojha 18 August 1986 30 September 1986 44 days Transfer of CJ H. N. Seth to Punjab & Haryana Allahabad 3 September 1971 [19]
Dwarka Nath Jha 1 May 1987 13 July 1987[§] 74 days Elevation of CJ K. J. Shetty to SCI Allahabad 6 August 1973 [18]
Amitav Banerji 16 July 1987 25 April 1988[§] 285 days Retirement of CJ D. N. Jha Allahabad [20]
K. C. Agarwal 23 May 1989 15 April 1990[+][i] 328 days Retirement of CJ B. N. Katju Allahabad [21][22]
Satish Chandra Mathur 8 January 1993 12 October 1993[+][j] 277 days Transfer of CJ M. K. Mukherjee to Bombay Allahabad 30 March 1978 [23]
Viney Krishna Khanna 13 October 1993 23 April 1994[+][k] 193 days Elevation of ACJ S. C. Mathur as 16th CJ of Jammu & Kashmir Allahabad 2 July 1979
V. N. Khare 15 January 1996 1 February 1996[+][l] 18 days Retirement of CJ A. L. Rao Allahabad 25 June 1983 [24]
Brijesh Kumar 9 December 1998 11 February 1999[+][k] 65 days Elevation of CJ D. P. Mohapatra to SCI Allahabad 24 May 1984 [25]
D. S. Sinha 18 April 2000 7 May 2000 20 days Retirement of CJ N. K. Mitra Allahabad 17 March 1986 [26]
S. K. Sen 8 May 2000 17 July 2000[§] 71 days Transferred as ACJ Calcutta 17 January 1986
Govind Prasad Mathur 25 November 2002 19 December 2002[‡] 25 days Retirement of CJ S. K. Sen Allahabad 6 July 1990 [27]
Satya Prakash Srivastava 20 December 2002 30 January 2003 42 days Elevation of ACJ Govind Prasad Mathur to SCI Allahabad 27 November 1991 [28]
Markandey Katju 27 August 2004 27 November 2004[+][m] 93 days Elevation of CJ T. Chatterjee to SCI Allahabad 30 November 1991 [29]
Vishnu Sahai 28 November 2004 29 December 2004 32 days Elevation of ACJ Markandey Katju as 32nd CJ of Madras Allahabad 1 February 1994 [30]
S. R. Alam 30 December 2004 10 January 2005 12 days Retirement of ACJ Vishnu Sahai [31]
27 January 2007 6 March 2007 39 days Transfer of CJ A. N. Ray to Sikkim
9 March 2009 19 March 2009 11 days Transfer of CJ H. L. Gokhale to Madras
Amitava Lala 8 February 2010 25 June 2010 138 days Elevation of CJ C. K. Prasad to SCI Calcutta 12 May 1997 [32]
31 July 2011 4 August 2011 5 days Retirement of CJ F. I. Rebello
8 August 2012 19 November 2012 104 days Retirement of CJ S. R. Alam
S. K. Singh 20 November 2012 3 February 2013[§] 76 days Retirement of ACJ Amitava Lala [33]
L. K. Mohapatra 19 September 2013 20 October 2013 32 days Elevation of CJ S. K. Singh to SCI Orissa 16 January 1999 [34]
Sheo Kumar Singh 21 October 2013 30 October 2013 10 days Transfer of ACJ L. K. Mohapatra as ACJ of Manipur Allahabad 24 April 2001 [35]
Vimlesh Kumar Shukla 13 May 2016 29 July 2016 78 days Elevation of CJ D. Y. Chandrachud to SCI Allahabad 21 December 2002 [36]
Govind Mathur 24 October 2018 13 November 2018[§] 21 days Retirement of CJ D. B. Bhosale
Sanjay Yadav 14 April 2021 12 June 2021[§] 60 days Retirement of CJ Govind Mathur Madhya Pradesh 2 March 2007
M. N. Bhandari 26 June 2021 10 October 2021 107 days Retirement of CJ Sanjay Yadav
Pritinker Diwaker 13 February 2023 25 March 2023[§] 41 days Elevation of CJ Rajesh Bindal to SCI
M. K. Gupta 22 November 2023 4 February 2024 75 days Retirement of CJ Pritinker Diwaker Allahabad 12 April 2013
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  1. [a]
    Transferred to Madras High Court
  2. [b]
    Transferred to Calcutta High Court
  3. [c]
    Transferred to Bombay High Court
  4. [d]
    Transferred to High Court of Princely State of Udaipur (later became Rajasthan High Court)
  5. [e]
    Transferred to Karnataka High Court
  6. [f]
    Transferred to Punjab and Haryana High Court
  7. [g]
    Transferred to Sikkim High Court
  8. [h]
    Previously serving as CJ of Madhya Pradesh High Court before being transferred as CJ of Allahabad
  9. [i]
    Elevated as Chief Justice of Rajasthan High Court
  10. [j]
    Elevated as Chief Justice of Jammu & Kashmir High Court
  11. [k]
    Elevated as Chief Justice of Gauhati High Court
  12. [l]
    Elevated as Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court
  13. [m]
    Elevated as Chief Justice of Madras High Court

Andhra Pradesh High Court

The Andhra Pradesh High Court was established on 1 January 2019 under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014 and has had 5 Chief Justices[37] excluding Acting Chief Justices.[38]

More information Sr. No., Name ...
Permanent Chief Justices
Sr. No. Name Portrait Date of Appointment Date of Retirement Tenure Parent High Court Date of initial Appointment
1 Jitendra Kumar Maheshwari 7 October 2019 5 January 2021[a] 1 year, 91 days Madhya Pradesh 25 November 2005
2 Arup Kumar Goswami 6 January 2021[b] 12 October 2021[c] 280 days
3 Prashant Kumar Mishra 13 October 2021 18 May 2023[‡] 1 year, 218 days
4 Dhiraj Singh Thakur 28 July 2023 24 April 2026 2 years, 271 days 8 March 2013
5 Lisa Gill 25 April 2026 Incumbent 13 days Punjab & Haryana 31 March 2014
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More information Name, From ...
Acting Chief Justices
Name From To Tenure Appointed due to Parent High Court Date of initial Appointment Ref..
C. Praveen Kumar 1 January 2019 6 October 2019 280 days Creation of New HC Andhra Pradesh 29 June 2012 [39]
A. V. Sesha Sai 19 May 2023 27 July 2023 70 days Elevation of CJ P. K. Mishra to SCI Andhra Pradesh 12 April 2013 [40]
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  1. [a]
    Transferred to Sikkim High Court
  2. [b]
    Previously serving as CJ of Sikkim High Court before being transferred as CJ of Andhra Pradesh
  3. [c]
    Transferred to Chhattisgarh High Court

Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court was established on 14 August 1862 under the Indian High Courts Act 1861 and has had 49 Chief Justices[41] excluding Acting Chief Justices.[42]

More information Sr. No., Name ...
Permanent Chief Justices
Sr. No. Name Portrait Date of Appointment Date of Retirement Tenure Parent High Court Date of initial Appointment Ref..
1 Matthew Richard Sausse 14 August 1862 1866 Bar -- [43]
2 Richard Couch 3 March 1866 25 April 1870[a] 4 years, 54 days Bombay 14 August 1862 [44]
3 Michael Roberts Westropp 1870 1882 Bombay 1863
4 Charles Sargent 1882 July 1895 Bombay 1866
5 Charles Frederick Farran July 1895 9 September 1898[†] Bombay 1890 [45]
6 Louis Addin Kershaw 12 November 1898[b] 17 February 1899[†] 98 days Bar -- [8][46]
7 Lawrence Hugh Jenkins 20 April 1899 1908[c] Calcutta 24 April 1896 [47]
8 Basil Scott 1908 1919 Bar --
9 Norman Cranstoun Macleod 1919 1926 Bombay 1910
10 Amberson Barrington Marten June 1926 17 June 1930[RES] Bombay 1916 [48]
11 John William Fisher Beaumont 20 June 1930 29 September 1943 13 years, 102 days Bar --
12 Leonard Stone 30 September 1943 15 August 1947[RES] 3 years, 320 days Bar --
13 Mahommedali Currim Chagla 3 January 1948 26 October 1958[RES] 10 years, 291 days Bombay 5 August 1941
14 Hashmatrai Khubchand Chainani 27 October 1958 28 November 1965[†] 7 years, 33 days Bombay 28 August 1948
15 Yeshwant Shripad Tambe 7 February 1966 31 July 1966 175 days Nagpur[β] 8 February 1954 [49]
16 Sohrab Peshotan Kotval 1 August 1966 27 September 1972 6 years, 58 days Nagpur[β] 18 August 1955 [50]
17 Kapil Kalyandas Desai 28 September 1972 27 October 1972 30 days Bombay 18 August 1958
18 Ramanlal Maneklal Kantawala 28 October 1972 5 October 1978 5 years, 343 days Bombay 9 February 1962
19 Balkrishna Narhar Deshmukh 6 October 1978 18 November 1980 2 years, 44 days Bombay 7 June 1965
20 Venkat Shrinivas Deshpande 12 January 1981 10 August 1982 1 year, 211 days Bombay 11 June 1967
21 Dinshah Pirosha Madon 31 August 1982 14 March 1983[‡] 196 days Bombay 25 September 1967
22 Madhukar Narhar Chandurkar 2 January 1984 2 April 1984[d] 92 days Bombay 28 October 1967 [51]
23 Konda Madhava Reddy 8 April 1984[e] 21 October 1985 1 year, 197 days Andhra Pradesh 28 May 1968
24 Madhukar Hiralal Kania 23 June 1986 30 April 1987[‡] 312 days Bombay 4 November 1969 [52]
25 Chittatosh Mookerjee 2 November 1987[f] 1 January 1991 3 years, 61 days Calcutta 2 April 1969
26 Prabodh Dinkarrao Desai 7 January 1991[f] 14 December 1992 1 year, 343 days
27 Manoj Kumar Mukherjee 9 January 1993[b] 14 December 1993[‡] 340 days Calcutta 17 June 1977
28 Sujata Manohar 15 January 1994 20 April 1994[g] 96 days Bombay 23 January 1978
29 Anandamoy Bhattacharjee 21 April 1994[f] 1 April 1995[RES] 346 days Sikkim 16 June 1976
30 Manharlal Bhikhalal Shah 2 August 1995 8 December 1998[‡] 3 years, 129 days
31 Yogesh Kumar Sabharwal Yogesh Kumar Sabharwal 3 February 1999 28 January 2000[‡] 360 days
32 Bisheshwar Prasad Singh 31 March 2000 13 December 2001[‡] 1 year, 258 days
33 Chunilal Karsandas Thakker 31 December 2001[h] 6 June 2004[‡] 2 years, 159 days
34 Dalveer Bhandari 25 July 2004 27 October 2005[‡] 1 year, 95 days
35 Kshitij Rameshbhai Vyas 25 February 2006 18 July 2006 144 days
36 Harjit Singh Bedi 3 October 2006 11 January 2007[‡] 101 days Punjab & Haryana 15 March 1991
37 Swatanter Kumar 31 March 2007 17 December 2009[‡] 2 years, 262 days
38 Anil Ramesh Dave 11 February 2010[e] 29 April 2010[‡] 78 days
39 Mohit Shantilal Shah 26 June 2010[f] 8 September 2015 5 years, 75 days
40 Dhirendra Hiralal Waghela 15 February 2016[i] 10 August 2016 178 days
41 Manjula Chellur 22 August 2016[f] 4 December 2017 1 year, 105 days
42 Naresh Harishchandra Patil 29 October 2018 6 April 2019 160 days Bombay 12 October 2001
43 Pradeep Nandrajog 7 April 2019[j] 23 February 2020 323 days
44 Bhushan Pradyumna Dharmadhikari 20 March 2020 27 April 2020 39 days Bombay 15 March 2004
45 Dipankar Datta 28 April 2020 11 December 2022[‡] 2 years, 228 days Calcutta 22 June 2006
46 Ramesh Deokinandan Dhanuka 28 May 2023 30 May 2023 3 days Bombay 23 January 2012
47 Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya 29 July 2023 20 January 2025[k] 1 year, 176 days Allahabad 21 November 2011
48 Alok Aradhe 21 January 2025[l] 28 August 2025[‡] 220 days Madhya Pradesh 29 December 2009
49 Shree Chandrashekhar 5 September 2025 Incumbent 245 days 17 January 2013
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Website of Maharashtra Judicial Academy contains list of its former patron in chiefs who always had been the chief justice of Bombay High Court (whether acting or permanent). Thus the list contained in this website would serve as primary reference for acting chief justices after 2009.[53]

More information Name, From ...
Acting Chief Justices
Name From To Tenure Appointed due to Parent High Court Date of initial Appointment Ref..
M. C. Chagla 16 August 1947 2 January 1948[§] 140 days Resignation of CJ Leonard Stone Bombay 5 August 1941
Y. S. Tambe 28 November 1965 6 February 1966[§] 71 days Death of CJ H. K. Chainani Nagpur 8 February 1954 [49]
V. S. Deshpande 19 November 1980 11 January 1981[§] 54 days Retirement of CJ B. N. Deshmukh Bombay 11 June 1967
D. P. Madon 11 August 1982 30 August 1982[§] 20 days Retirement of CJ V. S. Deshpande Bombay 25 September 1967
M. N. Chandurkar 15 March 1983 1 January 1984[§] 293 days Elevation of CJ D. P. Madon to SCI Bombay 28 October 1967 [54]
M. H. Kania 2 April 1984 7 April 1984 6 days Transfer of CJ M. N. Chandurkar to Madras Bombay 4 November 1969 [55]
22 October 1985 22 June 1986[§] 241 days Retirement of CJ K. M. Reddy [52]
Sharadchandra Krishnaprasd Desai 1 May 1987 2 September 1987 125 days Elevation of CJ M. H. Kania to SCI Bombay 15 April 1970
C. S. Dharmadhikari 3 September 1987 1 November 1987 60 days Appointment of ACJ S. K. Desai as Acting Governor of Maharashtra Bombay 13 July 1972
Subhash Chhaganlal Pratap 1 January 1991 6 January 1991 6 days Retirement of CJ C. Mookerjee Bombay 19 September 1977 [56]
Sujata Manohar 15 December 1992 8 January 1993 25 days Retirement of CJ P. D. Desai Bombay 23 January 1978 [57]
15 December 1993 14 January 1994[§] 31 days Elevation of CJ M. K. Mukherjee to SCI
Madhav Laxman Pendse 1 April 1995 27 July 1995[+][m] 118 days Resignation of CJ A. M. Bhattacharjee Bombay 25 January 1978 [58]
A. C. Agarwal 9 December 1998 2 February 1999 56 days Elevation of CJ M. B. Shah to SCI Bombay 21 November 1986 [59]
Manohar Bansiji Ghodeswar 29 January 2000 13 February 2000 16 days Elevation of CJ Y. K. Sabharwal to SCI Bombay 15 November 1988 [60]
Bhagwati Prasad Saraf 14 February 2000 20 February 2000[+][n] 7 days Retirement of ACJ M. B. Ghodeswar [61]
Niranjan Janmashanker Pandya 21 February 2000 30 March 2000 39 days Elevation of ACJ B. P. Saraf as 20th CJ of Jammu & Kashmir [62]
Gulabrao Deorao Patil 14 December 2001 30 December 2001 17 days Elevation of CJ B. P. Singh to SCI Bombay 30 July 1990 [63]
A. P. Shah 7 June 2004 24 July 2004 48 days Elevation of CJ C. K. Thakker to SCI Bombay 18 December 1992 [64]
Vishwanath Gopal Palshikar 28 October 2005 24 February 2006 120 days Elevation of CJ Dalveer Bhandari to SCI Bombay 20 January 1994 [65]
19 July 2006 2 October 2006 76 days Retirement of CJ K. R. Vyas
H. L. Gokhale 12 January 2007 6 March 2007[+][o] 54 days Elevation of CJ H. S. Bedi to SCI Bombay [66]
J. N. Patel 18 December 2009 10 February 2010 55 days Elevation of CJ Swatanter Kumar to SCI Bombay 11 March 1996
30 April 2010 25 June 2010[+][p] 57 days Elevation of CJ A. R. Dave to SCI
V. K. Tahilramani 9 September 2015 14 February 2016 159 days Retirement of CJ M. S. Shah Bombay 26 June 2001
11 August 2016 21 August 2016 11 days Retirement of CJ D. H. Waghela
5 December 2017 11 August 2018[+][q] 250 days Retirement of CJ Manjula Chellur
N. H. Patil 12 August 2018 28 October 2018[§] 78 days Elevation of ACJ V. K. Tahilramani as 40th CJ of Madras Bombay 12 October 2001
B. P. Dharmadhikari 24 February 2020 19 March 2020[§] 25 days Retirement of CJ Pradeep Nandrajog Bombay 15 March 2004
S. V. Gangapurwala 12 December 2022 27 May 2023[+][q] 167 days Elevation of CJ Dipankar Datta to SCI Bombay 13 March 2010
N. M. Jamdar 31 May 2023 28 July 2023 59 days Retirement of CJ R. D. Dhanuka Bombay 23 January 2012
Shree Chandrashekhar 29 August 2025 4 September 2025[+][r] 7 days Elevation of CJ Alok Aradhe to SCI
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  1. [a]
    Transferred to Calcutta High Court
  2. [b]
    Previously serving as CJ of Allahabad High Court before being transferred as CJ of Bombay
  3. [c]
    Retired from Bombay in 1908 and was again appointed as Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court in 1909
  4. [d]
    Transferred to Madras High Court
  5. [e]
    Previously serving as CJ of Undivided Andhra Pradesh High Court before being transferred as CJ of Bombay
  6. [f]
    Previously serving as CJ of Calcutta High Court before being transferred as CJ of Bombay
  7. [g]
    Transferred to Kerala High Court
  8. [h]
    Previously serving as CJ of Himachal Pradesh High Court before being transferred as CJ of Bombay
  9. [i]
    Previously serving as CJ of Orissa High Court before being transferred as CJ of Bombay
  10. [j]
    Previously serving as CJ of Rajasthan High Court before being transferred as CJ of Bombay
  11. [k]
    Transferred to Delhi High Court
  12. [l]
    Previously serving as CJ of Telangana High Court before being transferred as CJ of Bombay
  13. [m]
    Elevated as Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court
  14. [n]
    Elevated as Chief Justice of Jammu & Kashmir High Court
  15. [o]
    Elevated as Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court
  16. [p]
    Elevated as Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court
  17. [q]
    Elevated as Chief Justice of Madras High Court
  18. [r]
    Elevated as Chief Justice of Same High Court

Calcutta High Court

The Calcutta High Court was established on 1 July 1862 under the Indian High Courts Act 1861 and has had 44 Chief Justices excluding Acting Chief Justices.

More information Sr. No., Name ...
Permanent Chief Justices
Sr. No. Name Portrait Date of Appointment Date of Retirement Tenure Parent High Court Date of initial Appointment Ref..
1 Barnes Peacock 1 July 1862 26 April 1870[RES] 7 years, 300 days Bar -- [67]
2 Richard Couch 26 April 1870[a] 5 April 1875[RES] 4 years, 345 days Bombay 14 August 1862
3 Richard Garth 6 April 1875 26 February 1886 10 years, 327 days Bar -- [68]
4 William Comer Petheram 24 March 1886[b] November 1896 Bar -- [5]
5 Francis William Maclean 1896 March 1909 Bar --
6 Lawrence Hugh Jenkins 19 April 1909[c] 13 November 1915 6 years, 209 days Calcutta 24 April 1896 [47][69]
7 Lancelot Sanderson 13 November 1915 November 1926[RES] Bar -- [69]
8 George Claus Rankin 1926 1934 Calcutta 1918
9 Harold Derbyshire 22 October 1934 1946 Bar -- [70]
10 Arthur Trevor Harries 1946[d] 12 June 1952 Allahabad 1934 [47]
11 Phani Bhusan Chakravartti 13 June 1952 11 October 1958 6 years, 121 days Calcutta April 1945
12 Kulada Charan Das Gupta 12 October 1958 17 August 1959[‡] 310 days Calcutta June 1948 [71]
13 Surajit Chandra Lahiri 17 August 1959 10 June 1961 1 year, 298 days Calcutta 3 January 1949 [72]
14 Himansu Kumar Bose 10 June 1961 1 March 1966 4 years, 265 days Calcutta 8 December 1949 [73]
15 Deep Narayan Sinha 1 March 1966 14 January 1970 3 years, 320 days Calcutta 3 July 1950 [74]
16 Prasanta Bihari Mukharji 20 May 1970 30 July 1972 2 years, 72 days Calcutta 3 January 1949 [75]
17 Sankar Prasad Mitra 30 July 1972 25 December 1979 7 years, 149 days Calcutta 23 December 1957
18 Amarendra Nath Sen 26 December 1979 27 January 1981[‡] 1 year, 33 days Calcutta 15 November 1965
19 Sambhu Chandra Ghose 28 January 1981 31 December 1982 1 year, 338 days Calcutta 25 July 1966 [76]
20 Samarendra Chandra Deb 1 January 1983 28 February 1983 59 days Calcutta 27 February 1968 [77]
21 Satish Chandra 29 November 1983[b] 1 September 1986 2 years, 277 days Allahabad 7 October 1963 [16]
22 Anil Kumar Sen 2 September 1986 31 October 1986 60 days Calcutta 8 November 1968
23 Chittatosh Mookerjee 1 November 1986 1 November 1987[e] 1 year, 1 day Calcutta 2 April 1969
24 Debi Singh Tewatia 2 November 1987[f] 2 May 1988[RES] 183 days Punjab & Haryana 6 February 1970
25 Prabodh Dinkarrao Desai 14 November 1988[g] 6 January 1991[e] 2 years, 54 days
26 Nagendra Prasad Singh 4 February 1991 14 June 1992[‡] 1 year, 132 days
27 Anandamoy Bhattacharjee 25 January 1993 20 April 1994[e] 1 year, 86 days Sikkim 16 June 1976 [78]
28 Krishna Chandra Agarwal 21 April 1994[h] 15 January 1996 1 year, 270 days Allahabad 6 August 1973
29 Vishweshwar Nath Khare Vishweshwar Nath Khare 2 February 1996 20 March 1997[‡] 1 year, 47 days Allahabad 25 June 1983
30 Prabha Shankar Mishra 28 October 1997[i] 15 July 1998[RES] 261 days
31 Ashok Kumar Mathur 22 December 1999[j] 6 June 2004[‡] 4 years, 168 days
32 Vikas Sridhar Sirpurkar 20 March 2005[k] 11 January 2007[‡] 1 year, 298 days Bombay 9 November 1992
33 Surinder Singh Nijjar 7 March 2007 16 November 2009[‡] 2 years, 255 days Punjab & Haryana 8 April 1996
34 Mohit Shantilal Shah 24 December 2009 25 June 2010[e] 184 days
35 Jai Narayan Patel 26 June 2010 4 October 2012 2 years, 101 days Bombay 11 March 1996
36 Arun Kumar Mishra 14 December 2012[h] 6 July 2014[‡] 1 year, 205 days Madhya Pradesh 25 October 1999
37 Manjula Chellur 6 August 2014[l] 21 August 2016[e] 2 years, 16 days
38 Girish Chandra Gupta 21 September 2016 30 November 2016 71 days Calcutta 15 September 2000
39 Jyotirmay Bhattacharya 1 May 2018 24 September 2018 147 days Calcutta 3 December 2003
40 Debasish Kar Gupta 30 October 2018 31 December 2018 63 days Calcutta 22 June 2006
41 Thottathil Bhaskaran Nair Radhakrishnan 4 April 2019[m] 28 April 2021 2 years, 25 days Kerala 14 October 2004
42 Prakash Shrivastava 11 October 2021 30 March 2023 1 year, 171 days Madhya Pradesh 18 January 2008
43 Tirunelveli Subbiah Sivagnanam 11 May 2023 15 September 2025 2 years, 128 days
44 Sujoy Paul 16 January 2026 Incumbent 112 days Madhya Pradesh 27 May 2011
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More information Name, From ...
Acting Chief Justices
Name From To Tenure Appointed due to Parent High Court Date of initial Appointment Ref..
P. B. Mukharji 14 January 1970 19 May 1970[§] 126 days Retirement of CJ D. N. Sinha Calcutta 3 January 1949 [79]
S. Mukharji 1 March 1983 14 March 1983[‡] 14 days Retirement of CJ S. C. Deb Calcutta 31 July 1968 [80]
Tarun Kumar Basu 15 March 1983 28 November 1983 259 days Elevation of ACJ S. Mukharji to SCI Calcutta 31 July 1968 [81][82]
Rabindranath Pyne 3 May 1988 19 May 1988[+][n] 17 days Resignation of CJ D. S. Tewatia Calcutta 6 March 1974 [83]
Manashnath Roy 20 May 1988 13 November 1988 178 days Elevation of ACJ R. N. Pyne as 14th CJ of Delhi Calcutta 10 June 1974 [84]
A. M. Bhattacharjee 15 June 1992 24 January 1993[§] 224 days Elevation of CJ N. P. Singh to SCI Sikkim 16 June 1976 [78]
Samir Kumar Mookherjee 15 July 1998 29 April 1999 289 days Resignation of CJ P. S. Mishra Calcutta 9 January 1984 [85]
S. K. Sen 29 April 1999 17 May 1999 19 days Retirement of ACJ S. K. Mookherjee Calcutta 17 January 1986 [86]
5 December 1999 21 December 1999 17 days Reverted from position of Acting Governor to ACJ
S. B. Sinha 18 May 1999 4 December 1999 201 days Appointment of ACJ S. K. Sen as Acting Governor of West Bengal [87]
A. N. Ray 7 June 2004 10 January 2005[+][o] 218 days Elevation of CJ A. K. Mathur to SCI Calcutta 6 August 1990 [88]
A. Kabir 11 January 2005 28 February 2005[+][p] 49 days Elevation of ACJ A. N. Ray as 38th CJ of Allahabad Calcutta 6 August 1990 [89]
A. K. Ganguly 1 March 2005 19 March 2005 19 days Elevation of ACJ A. Kabir as 3rd CJ of Jharkhand Calcutta 10 January 1994 [90]
B. Bhattacharya 12 January 2007 6 March 2007 54 days Elevation of CJ V. S. Sirpurkar to SCI Calcutta 17 July 1997 [91]
17 November 2009 23 December 2009 37 days Elevation of CJ S. S. Nijjar to SCI [92]
K. J. Sengupta 5 October 2012 30 October 2012 26 days Retirement of CJ J. N. Patel Calcutta [93]
Pratap Kumar Ray 31 October 2012 14 December 2012 45 days Transfer of ACJ K. J. Sengupta as Judge to Uttarakhand Calcutta 15 September 2000 [94]
Ashim Kumar Banerjee 7 July 2014 5 August 2014 30 days Elevation of CJ A. K. Mishra to SCI Calcutta [95]
G. C. Gupta 22 August 2016 20 September 2016[§] 30 days Transfer of CJ Manjula Chellur to Bombay Calcutta
N. N. Mhatre 1 December 2016 19 September 2017 293 days Retirement of CJ G. C. Gupta Bombay 28 March 2001
Rakesh Tiwari 20 September 2017 24 October 2017 35 days Retirement of ACJ N. N. Mhatre Allahabad 14 February 2002 [96]
J. M. Bhattacharya 25 October 2017 30 April 2018[§] 188 days Retirement of ACJ Rakesh Tiwari Calcutta 3 December 2003
D. K. Gupta 25 September 2018 29 October 2018[§] 35 days Retirement of CJ J. M. Bhattacharya Calcutta 22 June 2006
Biswanath Somadder 1 January 2019 3 April 2019 93 days Retirement of CJ D. K. Gupta Calcutta
Rajesh Bindal 28 April 2021 10 October 2021[+][o] 166 days Retirement of CJ T. B. Radhakrishnan Punjab & Haryana 22 March 2006
T. S. Sivagnanam 31 March 2023 10 May 2023[§] 41 days Retirement of CJ Prakash Shrivastava
Soumen Sen 16 September 2025 7 October 2025[+][q] 22 days Retirement of CJ T. S. Sivagnanam Calcutta 13 April 2011
Sujoy Paul 8 October 2025 15 January 2026[§] 100 days Elevation of ACJ Soumen Sen as 14th CJ of Meghalaya Madhya Pradesh 27 May 2011
Close
  1. [a]
    Previously serving as CJ of Bombay High Court before being transferred as CJ of Calcutta
  2. [b]
    Previously serving as CJ of Allahabad High Court before being transferred as CJ of Calcutta
  3. [c]
    Previously served as CJ of Bombay High Court and retired in 1908, reappointed as CJ of Calcutta in 1909
  4. [d]
    Previously serving as CJ of Lahore High Court before being transferred as CJ of Calcutta
  5. [e]
    Transferred to Bombay High Court
  6. [f]
    Previously serving as CJ of Punjab & Haryana High Court before being transferred as CJ of Calcutta
  7. [g]
    Previously serving as CJ of Himachal Pradesh High Court before being transferred as CJ of Calcutta
  8. [h]
    Previously serving as CJ of Rajasthan High Court before being transferred as CJ of Calcutta
  9. [i]
    Previously serving as CJ of Undivided Andhra Pradesh High Court before being transferred as CJ of Calcutta
  10. [j]
    Previously serving as CJ of Madhya Pradesh High Court before being transferred as CJ of Calcutta
  11. [k]
    Previously serving as CJ of Uttarakhand High Court before being transferred as CJ of Calcutta
  12. [l]
    Previously serving as CJ of Kerala High Court before being transferred as CJ of Calcutta
  13. [m]
    Previously serving as CJ of Telangana High Court before being transferred as CJ of Calcutta
  14. [n]
    Elevated as Chief Justice of Delhi High Court
  15. [o]
    Elevated as Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court
  16. [p]
    Elevated as Chief Justice of Jharkhand High Court
  17. [q]
    Elevated as Chief Justice of Meghalaya High Court

Chhattisgarh High Court

The Chhattisgarh High Court was established on 1 November 2000 under the Madhya Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2000 and has had 15 Chief Justices[97] excluding Acting Chief Justices.[98]

More information Sr. No., Name ...
Sr. No. Name Portrait Date of Appointment Date of Retirement Tenure Total tenure[a][b] Parent High Court Date of initial Appointment Remarks Ref..
-- R. S. Garg 1 November 2000 4 December 2000 34 days Madhya Pradesh 15 December 1994
1 Wungazan Awungshi Shishak 5 December 2000 15 January 2002 1 year, 42 days Transferred to Himachal Pradesh
-- Fakhruddin 16 January 2002 5 February 2002 21 days Madhya Pradesh 15 December 1994 [99]
2 Korategere Hanumanthayya Narasimha Kuranga 6 February 2002 10 May 2004 2 years, 95 days
3 Ayyampalayam Somasundaram Venkatachala Moorthy 28 May 2004 7 January 2005 225 days
4 Ananga Kumar Patnaik 14 March 2005 1 October 2005 202 days Orissa 13 January 1994 Transferred to Madhya Pradesh
5 Subray Rama Nayak 17 November 2005 31 December 2006 1 year, 45 days
6 Handyala Lalshminarayanaswamy Dattu H. L. Dattu 12 February 2007 17 May 2007 95 days Transferred to Kerala
-- Jagadish Bhalla 19 May 2007 1 February 2008 259 days Allahabad 5 April 1995 Transferred as 19th CJ of Himachal Pradesh [100]
7 Rajeev Gupta 2 February 2008 9 October 2012 4 years, 251 days Madhya Pradesh 27 September 1994
8 Yatindra Singh 22 October 2012 8 October 2014 1 year, 352 days Allahabad 5 February 1999
9 Navin Sinha 9 October 2014
Permanent from
9 April 2015		 13 May 2016 1 year, 35 days 1 year, 218 days ACJ: (9 October 2014 – 8 April 2015)
Transferred to Rajasthan		 [101]
10 Deepak Gupta 16 May 2016 16 February 2017 277 days Elevated to Supreme Court
-- Pritinker Diwaker 17 February 2017 17 March 2017 29 days
11 Thottathil Bhaskaran Nair Radhakrishnan 18 March 2017 6 July 2018 1 year, 111 days Kerala 14 October 2004 Transferred to Telangana
12 Ajay Kumar Tripathi 7 July 2018 26 March 2019 263 days
-- P. K. Mishra 27 March 2019 5 May 2019 40 days [102]
13 Parappillil Ramakrishnan Nair Ramachandra Menon 6 May 2019 31 May 2021 2 years, 26 days Kerala 5 January 2009
-- P. K. Mishra 1 June 2021 11 October 2021 133 days 173 days[c] Transferred as 3rd CJ of Andhra Pradesh
14 Arup Kumar Goswami 12 October 2021 10 March 2023 1 year, 150 days
-- Goutam Bhaduri 11 March 2023 28 March 2023 18 days [103]
15 Ramesh Sinha 29 March 2023 Incumbent 3 years, 40 days Allahabad 21 November 2011
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Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court was established on 31 October 1966 under Delhi High Court Act, 1966 and has had 34 Chief Justices[104] excluding Acting Chief Justices.[105]

More information Sr. No., Name ...
Sr. No. Name Portrait Date of Appointment Date of Retirement Tenure Total tenure[a][b] Parent High Court Date of initial Appointment Remarks Ref..
1 Kowdoor Sadananda Hegde 31 October 1966 16 July 1967 259 days Elevated to Supreme Court
2 Inder Dev Dua 17 July 1967 31 July 1969 2 years, 15 days Punjab & Haryana 11 August 1958 Elevated to Supreme Court
3 Hans Raj Khanna 1 August 1969 22 September 1971 2 years, 53 days Punjab & Haryana 7 May 1962 Elevated to Supreme Court
4 Hardayal Hardy 23 September 1971 14 May 1972 235 days
5 Narain Andley 15 May 1972 3 June 1974 2 years, 20 days
6 Tirumala Venkata Ranga Tatachari 4 June 1974 15 October 1978 4 years, 134 days
7 Vasant Shamrao Deshpande 16 October 1978 26 June 1980 1 year, 255 days
8 Prakash Narain 27 June 1980
Permanent from
8 January 1981		 5 August 1985 4 years, 210 days 5 years, 40 days ACJ: (27 June 1980 – 7 January 1981) [106]
9 Rajinder Sachar 6 August 1985 21 December 1985 138 days
10 Dalip Kumar Kapur 22 December 1985 19 August 1986 241 days
11 Tejinder Pal Singh Chawla 20 August 1986
Permanent from
26 September 1986		 15 August 1987 324 days 361 days ACJ: (20 August 1986 – 25 September 1986) [106]
12 Rajendra Nath Aggarwal 16 August 1987 21 August 1987 6 days
13 Yogeshwar Dayal 21 August 1987 18 March 1988 211 days Transferred to Undivided Andhra Pradesh
14 Rabindranth Pyne 20 May 1988 8 October 1990 2 years, 142 days Calcutta 6 March 1974
-- Leila Seth 9 October 1990 27 November 1990 50 days
15 Milap Chand Jain 28 November 1990 21 July 1991 236 days
-- Leila Seth 22 July 1991 4 August 1991 14 days 64 days Elevated as 8th CJ of Himachal Pradesh [107]
16 Gokal Chand Mittal 5 August 1991 11 April 1994 2 years, 250 days Punjab & Haryana 19 February 1979 Transferred to Rajasthan
17 Mamidanna Jagannadha Rao 12 April 1994 20 March 1997 2 years, 343 days Andhra Pradesh 29 November 1982 Elevated to Supreme Court
-- Mahinder Narain 21 March 1997 25 June 1997 97 days
18 Ajay Prakash Misra 26 June 1997 3 December 1997 161 days Allahabad 24 May 1984 Elevated to Supreme Court
-- Mahinder Narain 4 December 1997 18 September 1998 289 days Took leave [108]
-- Y. K. Sabharwal 19 September 1998 9 December 1998 82 days [107]
-- Mahinder Narain 10 December 1998 17 January 1999 39 days 1 year, 60 days Took leave and subsequently died
-- Y. K. Sabharwal 18 January 1999 2 February 1999 16 days 98 days Transferred as 31st CJ of Bombay
-- Devinder Gupta 3 February 1999 24 May 1999 111 days
19 Sam Nariman Variava 25 May 1999 14 March 2000 295 days Bombay 21 November 1986 Elevated to Supreme Court
-- Devinder Gupta 15 March 2000 9 May 2000 56 days
20 Arijit Pasayat 10 May 2000 18 October 2001 1 year, 162 days Orissa 20 March 1989 Elevated to Supreme Court
-- Devinder Gupta 19 October 2001 25 November 2001 38 days
21 Satyabrata Sinha 26 November 2001 2 October 2002 311 days Elevated to Supreme Court
-- Devinder Gupta 2 October 2002 4 March 2003 154 days 359 days Transferred as CJ of Undivided Andhra Pradesh [109]
22 Babulal Chandulal Patel 5 March 2003 7 August 2005 2 years, 156 days
-- B. A. Khan 8 August 2005 11 October 2005 65 days [110]
23 Markandey Katju 12 October 2005 9 April 2006 180 days Allahabad 30 November 1991 Elevated to Supreme Court
-- Vijender Jain 10 April 2006 27 November 2006 232 days Transferred as 27th CJ of Punjab & Haryana [111]
24 Mukundakam Sharma 28 November 2006
Permanent from
4 December 2006		 8 April 2008 1 year, 127 days 1 year, 133 days ACJ: (28 November 2006 – 3 December 2006)
Elevated to Supreme Court		 [112]
-- T. S. Thakur 9 April 2008 10 May 2008 32 days [113]
25 Ajit Prakash Shah 11 May 2008 12 February 2010 1 year, 278 days Bombay 18 December 1992
-- M. B. Lokur 13 February 2010 23 May 2010 100 days [114]
26 Dipak Misra Dipak Misra 24 May 2010 9 October 2011 1 year, 139 days Orissa 17 January 1996 Elevated to Supreme Court
-- A. K. Sikri 10 October 2011 22 September 2012 349 days Transferred as 31st CJ of Punjab & Haryana [115]
-- S. K. Kaul 23 September 2012 25 September 2012 3 days [116]
27 Darmar Murugesan 26 September 2012 10 June 2013 258 days
-- B. D. Ahmed 11 June 2013 1 September 2013 83 days [117]
28 Nuthalapati Venkata Ramana Nuthalapati Venkata Ramana 2 September 2013 16 February 2014 168 days Andhra Pradesh 27 June 2000 Elevated to Supreme Court
-- B. D. Ahmed 17 February 2014 20 April 2014 63 days 146 days[d] [117]
29 Gorla Rohini 21 April 2014 13 April 2017 2 years, 358 days Andhra Pradesh 25 June 2001
-- Gita Mittal 14 April 2017 8 August 2018 1 year, 117 days Transferred as 33rd CJ of Jammu & Kashmir [118]
30 Rajendra Menon 9 August 2018 6 June 2019 302 days Madhya Pradesh 1 April 2002
31 Dhirubhai Naranbhai Patel 7 June 2019 12 March 2022 2 years, 279 days
-- Vipin Sanghi 13 March 2022 27 June 2022 107 days Transferred as 12th CJ of Uttarakhand [119]
32 Satish Chandra Sharma 28 June 2022 8 November 2023 1 year, 134 days Madhya Pradesh 18 January 2008 Elevated to Supreme Court
33 Manmohan 9 November 2023
Permanent from
29 September 2024		 4 December 2024 67 days 1 year, 26 days ACJ: (9 November 2023 – 28 September 2024)
Elevated to Supreme Court		 [120]
-- Vibhu Bakhru 5 December 2024 20 January 2025 47 days
34 Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya 21 January 2025 Incumbent 1 year, 107 days Allahabad 21 November 2011
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Gauhati High Court

The Gauhati High Court was established on 1 March 1948 under the Government of India Act 1935 and has had 43 Chief Justices[121] excluding Acting Chief Justices.[122]

More information Sr. No., Name ...
Sr. No. Name Portrait Date of Appointment Date of Retirement Tenure Total tenure[a][b] Parent High Court Date of initial Appointment Remarks Ref..
1 Ronald Francis Lodge 5 April 1948 7 April 1949 1 year, 3 days Calcutta 1941
2 Thakurdas Vasanmal Thadani 8 April 1949
Permanent from
28 May 1951		 21 November 1952 1 year, 178 days 3 years, 228 days ACJ: (8 April 1949 – 27 May 1951) [123]
-- Ram Labhaya 22 November 1952 9 February 1953 80 days [124]
3 Sarjoo Prasad 10 February 1953 20 February 1959 6 years, 11 days Transferred to Rajasthan
4 Chandreswar Prasad Sinha 21 February 1959 31 January 1961 1 year, 346 days
5 Holiram Deka 1 February 1961 29 June 1961 149 days
6 Gopalji Mehrotra 30 June 1961 6 February 1967 5 years, 222 days Allahabad 6 May 1954
7 Canakapalli Sanjeevrow Nayudu 7 February 1967 7 March 1968 1 year, 30 days Andhra Pradesh 13 March 1958 [93]
8 Sarat Kumar Dutta 8 March 1968 30 January 1970 1 year, 329 days
9 Parbati Kumar Goswami 31 January 1970 9 September 1973 3 years, 222 days Elevated to Supreme Court
10 Mahendra Chandra Pathak 10 September 1973
Permanent from
9 January 1974		 30 June 1977 3 years, 173 days 3 years, 294 days ACJ: (10 September 1973 – 8 January 1974) [125]
11 Mahadevayya Sadanand Swami 1 July 1977
Permanent from
1 October 1977		 5 July 1978 278 days 1 year, 5 days ACJ: (1 July 1977 – 30 September 1977)
12 Chand Mal Lodha 6 July 1978 10 March 1979 248 days Transferred to Rajasthan
13 Baharul Islam 11 March 1979
Permanent from
7 July 1979		 1 March 1980 239 days 357 days ACJ: (11 March 1979 – 6 July 1979)
Elevated to Supreme Court on 4 December 1980 after retirement		 [126]
14 Dambarudhar Pathak 2 March 1980
Permanent from
18 April 1983		 8 August 1983 113 days 3 years, 160 days ACJ : (2 March 1980 – 17 April 1983)
Transferred to Orissa
15 Tribeni Sahai Misra 12 August 1983 14 November 1984 1 year, 95 days Allahabad 3 September 1971
-- K. M. Lahiri 15 November 1984 29 September 1985 319 days [127]
16 Palem Chennakesava Reddy 30 September 1985 2 November 1986 1 year, 34 days Andhra Pradesh 10 May 1972
17 Kiranmoy Lahiri 3 November 1986 19 December 1986 47 days 1 year,
1 day[e]
18 Khagendra Nath Saikia 20 December 1986
Permanent from
14 June 1987		 28 February 1988 260 days 1 year, 71 days ACJ: (20 December 1986 – 13 June 1987)
Elevated to Supreme Court on 14 December 1988 after retirement		 [128]
19 Guman Mal Lodha 1 March 1988 15 March 1988 15 days
20 Anisetti Raghuvir 6 May 1988 21 March 1991 2 years, 320 days Andhra Pradesh 17 October 1974
21 Ullal Lakshminarayana Bhat 20 August 1991 12 December 1993 2 years, 115 days Kerala 18 September 1980 Transferred to Madhya Pradesh
22 Rajkumar Manisana Singh 12 December 1993
Permanent from
27 January 1994		 1 February 1994 6 days 52 days ACJ: (12 December 1993 – 26 January 1994)
23 Viney Krishna Khanna 24 April 1994 14 February 1997 2 years, 297 days Allahabad 2 July 1979
24 M. Ramakrishna 18 June 1997 12 April 1998 299 days
25 Brijesh Kumar 12 February 1999 18 October 2000 1 year, 250 days Allahabad 24 May 1984 Elevated to Supreme Court
26 Naresh Chandra Jain 19 October 2000 5 April 2001 169 days Punjab & Haryana 27 June 1988
-- H. K. Sema 5 April 2001 6 June 2001 63 days Transferred as Judge to Jammu & Kashmir [129]
27 Ravinder Singh Mongia 21 June 2001
Permanent from
21 September 2001		 9 June 2002 262 days 354 days Punjab & Haryana 15 June 1990 ACJ: (21 June 2001 – 20 September 2001)
28 Prakash Prabhakar Naolekar 10 June 2002 26 August 2004 2 years, 78 days Madhya Pradesh 15 June 1992 Elevated to Supreme Court
-- Dinendra Biswas 27 August 2004 28 March 2005 214 days [124]
29 Binod Kumar Roy 21 May 2005 29 September 2005 132 days Transferred to Sikkim
-- Dinendra Biswas 30 September 2005 4 December 2005 66 days
30 Buchireddy Sudarshan Reddy 5 December 2005 11 January 2007 1 year, 38 days Andhra Pradesh 2 May 1995 Elevated to Supreme Court
-- Dinendra Biswas 12 January 2007 2 May 2007 111 days 1 year,
26 days[f]
31 Jasti Chelameswar 3 May 2007 16 March 2010 2 years, 318 days Andhra Pradesh 23 June 1997 Transferred to Kerala
-- Ranjan Gogoi 17 March 2010 16 April 2010 31 days [130]
32 Ramesh Surajmal Garg 17 April 2010 18 June 2010 63 days Madhya Pradesh 15 December 1994
-- Ranjan Gogoi 18 June 2010 23 June 2010 6 days [131]
33 Madan Lokur 24 June 2010 14 November 2011 1 year, 145 days Transferred to Undivided Andhra Pradesh
-- A. K. Goel 15 November 2011 19 December 2011 35 days Punjab & Haryana 2 July 2001 [132]
34 Adarsh Kumar Goel 20 December 2011 10 October 2013 1 year, 295 days Transferred to Odisha
35 Abhay Manohar Sapre 19 October 2013 12 August 2014 298 days Madhya Pradesh 25 October 1999 Elevated to Supreme Court
-- K. Sreedhar Rao 13 August 2014 20 October 2015 1 year, 69 days Retired as Acting CJ [124]
-- T. Vaiphei 21 October 2015 4 March 2016 136 days [133]
36 Ajit Singh 5 March 2016 5 September 2018 2 years, 185 days Madhya Pradesh 1 April 2002
-- A. K. Goswami 6 September 2018 28 October 2018 53 days
37 Ajjikuttira Somaiah Bopanna 29 October 2018 23 May 2019 207 days Elevated to Supreme Court
-- A. K. Goswami 24 May 2019 6 October 2019 136 days 189 days[g] [133]
38 Ajai Lamba 7 October 2019 20 September 2020 350 days Punjab & Haryana 22 March 2006
-- N. Kotiswar Singh 21 September 2020 9 January 2021 111 days
39 Sudhanshu Dhulia 10 January 2021 8 May 2022 1 year, 119 days Elevated to Supreme Court
-- N. Kotiswar Singh 9 May 2022 22 June 2022 45 days
40 Rashmin Manharbhai Chhaya 23 June 2022 11 January 2023 203 days
-- N. Kotiswar Singh 12 January 2023 14 February 2023 34 days 190 days[h] Transferred as 36th CJ of Jammu & Kashmir [134]
41 Sandeep Mehta 15 February 2023 8 November 2023 267 days Elevated to Supreme Court
-- L. Jamir 9 November 2023 4 February 2024 88 days
42 Vijay Bishnoi 5 February 2024 29 May 2025 1 year, 114 days Elevated to Supreme Court
-- L. Jamir 30 May 2025 20 July 2025 52 days 140 days[i] Transferred as Judge to Calcutta
43 Ashutosh Kumar 21 July 2025 Incumbent 291 days 15 May 2014
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Gujarat High Court

The Gujarat High Court was established on 1 May 1960 under the Bombay Reorganisation Act, 1960 and has had 28 Chief Justices[135] excluding Acting Chief Justices.[136]

2022 Annual report of Gujarat High Court contains list of all former acting chief justices till the time of publishing report.[137]

More information Sr. No., Name ...
Sr. No. Name Portrait Date of Appointment Date of Retirement Tenure Total tenure[a][b] Parent High Court Date of initial Appointment Remarks Ref..
1 Sunderlal Trikamlal Desai 1 May 1960 25 January 1961 270 days Bombay 9 October 1952
2 Kantilal Thakoredas Desai 26 January 1961 22 May 1963 2 years, 117 days Bombay 6 January 1957
3 Jaishanker Manilal Shelat 23 May 1963
Permanent from
31 May 1963		 23 February 1966 2 years, 269 days 2 years, 277 days Bombay ACJ: (23 May 1963 – 30 May 1963)
Elevated to Supreme Court
4 Nomanbhai Mahmedbhai Miabhoy 24 February 1966
Permanent from
21 April 1966		 5 September 1967 1 year, 138 days 1 year, 194 days Bombay 22 March 1957 ACJ: (24 February 1966 – 20 April 1966) [138]
5 Prafullachandra Natwarlal Bhagwati Prafullachandra Natwarlal Bhagwati 16 September 1967 17 July 1973 5 years, 305 days Elevated to Supreme Court
6 Bipinchandra Jivanlal Diwan 18 July 1973 30 June 1976 2 years, 349 days Transferred to Undivided Andhra Pradesh
7 Seshareddi Obul Reddy 7 July 1976 18 August 1977 1 year, 43 days Andhra Pradesh 8 July 1966 Transferred to Undivided Andhra Pradesh
(6) Bipinchandra Jivanlal Diwan 28 August 1977 19 August 1981 3 years, 357 days 6 years,
341 days[j]		 Retransferred to Gujarat as CJ w.e.f. 28 August 1977.
8 Manharlal Pranlal Thakkar 20 August 1981 14 March 1983 1 year, 207 days Elevated to Supreme Court
-- P. D. Desai 15 March 1983 27 September 1983 197 days [139]
9 Padmanabham Subramanian Poti 28 September 1983 1 February 1985 1 year, 127 days Kerala 20 March 1969
-- B. K. Mehta 2 February 1985 20 March 1985 47 days
10 Puliyangudi Ramaiyapillai Gokulakrishnan 21 March 1985 12 August 1990 5 years, 145 days
-- R. C. Mankad 13 August 1990 1 December 1990 111 days [140]
11 Ganendra Narayan Ray 2 December 1990 6 October 1991 309 days Calcutta 23 December 1976 Elevated to Supreme Court
-- R. C. Mankad 7 October 1991 18 February 1992 135 days 247 days[k] Retired as Acting CJ
-- S. B. Majumdar 19 February 1992 14 June 1992 117 days
12 Sundaram Nainar Sundaram 15 June 1992 13 December 1993 1 year, 182 days Transferred to Undivided Andhra Pradesh
13 Bhupinder Nath Kirpal Bhupinder Nath Kirpal 14 December 1993 11 September 1995 1 year, 272 days Elevated to Supreme Court
-- R. A. Mehta 12 September 1995 1 July 1996 294 days [141]
14 Gurudas Datta Kamat 2 July 1996 4 January 1997 187 days Bombay 29 August 1983
-- R. A. Mehta 5 January 1997 19 October 1997 288 days 1 year,
217 days[l]
15 Kumaran Sreedharan 20 October 1997 3 June 1998 227 days Kerala 10 September 1985
16 Konakuppakattil Gopinathan Balakrishnan Konakuppakatil Gopinathan Balakrishnan 4 June 1998
Permanent from
16 July 1998		 8 September 1999 1 year, 55 days 1 year, 97 days Kerala 26 September 1985 ACJ : (4 June 1998 – 15 July 1998)
Transferred to Madras
-- C. K. Thakker 9 September 1999 24 January 2000 138 days [142]
17 Devdatta Madhav Dharmadhikari 25 January 2000 4 March 2002 2 years, 39 days Madhya Pradesh 24 March 1989 Elevated to Supreme Court
-- B. C. Patel 5 March 2002 16 March 2002 12 days [143]
18 Daya Saran Sinha 17 March 2002 17 March 2003 1 year, 1 day Allahabad 17 March 1986
-- J. N. Bhatt 18 March 2003 24 August 2003 160 days [144]
19 Bhawani Singh 25 August 2003 28 March 2006 2 years, 216 days
-- B. J. Shethna 28 March 2006 2 April 2006 6 days [145]
20 Yad Ram Meena 3 April 2006
Permanent from
3 February 2007		 30 June 2008 1 year, 149 days 2 years, 89 days ACJ: (3 April 2006 – 2 February 2007) [146]
-- M. S. Shah 1 July 2008 3 September 2008 65 days
21 Kalavamkodath Sivasankara Panicker Radhakrishnan 4 September 2008 16 November 2009 1 year, 74 days Kerala 17 May 1995 Elevated to Supreme Court
-- M. S. Shah 16 November 2009 8 December 2009 23 days 88 days[m]
22 Sudhanshu Joshi Mukhopadhaya 9 December 2009 12 September 2011 1 year, 278 days Elevated to Supreme Court
-- A. L. Dave 13 September 2011 7 November 2011 56 days [147]
23 Bhaskar Bhattacharya 8 November 2011
Permanent from
21 July 2012		 28 September 2014 2 years, 70 days 2 years, 325 days Calcutta 17 July 1997 ACJ: (8 November 2011 – 20 July 2012)
-- V. M. Sahai 29 September 2014 12 August 2015 318 days Allahabad 5 February 1999 Retired as Acting CJ [148]
-- J. M. Patel 13 August 2015 12 February 2016 184 days Transferred as Judge to Karnataka [149]
24 Ramayyagari Subhash Reddy 13 February 2016 1 November 2018 2 years, 262 days Andhra Pradesh 2 December 2002 Elevated to Supreme Court
-- A. A. Kureshi 2 November 2018 13 November 2018 12 days Transferred as Judge to Bombay [150]
-- A. S. Dave 14 November 2018 9 September 2019 300 days [151]
25 Vikram Nath 10 September 2019 30 August 2021 1 year, 355 days Allahabad 24 September 2004 Elevated to Supreme Court
-- Vineet Kothari 31 August 2021 2 September 2021 3 days Retired as Acting CJ [152]
-- R. M. Chhaya 2 September 2021 12 October 2021 41 days
26 Aravind Kumar 13 October 2021 12 February 2023 1 year, 123 days Elevated to Supreme Court
27 Sonia Giridhar Gokani 13 February 2023
Permanent from
16 February 2023		 25 February 2023 10 days 13 days ACJ: (13 February 2023 – 15 February 2023)
-- A. J. Desai 26 February 2023 22 July 2023 147 days Transferred as 38th CJ of Kerala [153]
28 Sunita Agarwal 23 July 2023 Incumbent 2 years, 289 days Allahabad 21 November 2011
Close

Himachal Pradesh High Court

The Himachal Pradesh High Court was established on 25 January 1971 under the State of Himachal Pradesh Act, 1970 and has had 30 Chief Justices[154] excluding Acting Chief Justices.

More information Sr. No., Name ...
Sr. No. Name Portrait Date of Appointment Date of Retirement Tenure Total tenure[a][b] Parent High Court Date of initial Appointment Remarks Ref..
1 Mirza Hameedullah Beg Mirza Hameedullah Beg 25 January 1971 9 December 1971 319 days Allahabad 11 June 1963 Elevated to Supreme Court
-- D. B. Lal 10 December 1971 17 March 1972 99 days [155]
2 Raghunandan Swarup Pathak Raghunandan Swarup Pathak 18 March 1972 19 February 1978 5 years, 339 days Allahabad 1 October 1962 Elevated to Supreme Court
3 Tryambkalal Umedchand Mehta 20 February 1978
Permanent from
25 July 1978		 11 December 1979 1 year, 140 days 1 year, 295 days ACJ: (20 February 1978 – 24 July 1978)
4 Vyas Dev Misra 12 December 1979 30 September 1983 3 years, 293 days
-- H. S. Thakur 1 October 1983 22 December 1983 83 days [156]
5 Prabodh Dinkarrao Desai 23 December 1983 13 November 1988 4 years, 327 days Transferred to Calcutta
-- V. K. Mehrotra 14 November 1988 28 March 1989 135 days Allahabad 30 March 1978 [157]
6 Narendra Mohan Kasliwal 29 March 1989 5 October 1989 191 days Elevated to Supreme Court
-- V. K. Mehrotra 6 October 1989 5 November 1989 31 days Allahabad 30 March 1978
7 Perumbulavil Chakkala Valappil Balakrishna Menon 6 November 1989 14 January 1991 1 year, 70 days Kerala 18 September 1980
-- V. K. Mehrotra 15 January 1991 4 August 1991 202 days 1 year, 3 days Allahabad 30 March 1978 [158]
8 Leila Seth 5 August 1991 19 October 1992 1 year, 76 days
-- Bhawani SIngh 20 October 1992 21 June 1993 245 days [159]
9 Shashi Kant Seth 22 June 1993 27 August 1993 67 days Madhya Pradesh 27 November 1978
-- Bhawani SIngh 28 August 1993 28 January 1994 154 days [160]
10 Viswanathan Ratnam 29 January 1994 31 July 1994 184 days
-- Bhawani SIngh 1 August 1994 16 September 1994 47 days 1 year, 81 days
11 Gulab Chand Gupta 17 September 1994 28 February 1995 165 days Madhya Pradesh 20 June 1983
12 Sailendu Nath Phukan 1 March 1995 1 August 1996 1 year, 154 days Transferred to Odisha
-- Kamlesh Sharma 2 August 1996 11 August 1996 10 days [161]
13 Madhavachari Srinivasan 12 August 1996 24 September 1997 1 year, 44 days Elevated to Supreme Court
-- Kamlesh Sharma 25 September 1997 6 November 1997 43 days
14 Makani Narayana Rao 6 November 1997 21 April 1998 167 days Andhra Pradesh 11 July 1986
-- Kamlesh Sharma 22 April 1998 30 June 1998 70 days
15 Doraiswamy Raju 1 July 1998 28 January 2000 1 year, 212 days Elevated to Supreme Court
-- Kamlesh Sharma 29 January 2000 4 May 2000 97 days
16 Chunilal Karsandas Thakker 5 May 2000 30 December 2001 1 year, 240 days Transferred to Bombay
-- Kamlesh Sharma 31 December 2001 24 January 2002 25 days
17 Wungazan Awungshi Shishak 24 January 2002 31 December 2002 342 days
-- Kamlesh Sharma 1 January 2003 7 March 2003 66 days 311 days[n]
18 Vinod Kumar Gupta 8 March 2003 1 February 2008 4 years, 331 days Transferred to Uttarakhand
19 Jagadish Bhalla 2 February 2008 9 August 2009 1 year, 189 days Allahabad 5 April 1995 Transferred to Rajasthan
-- R. B. Misra 10 August 2009 8 February 2010 183 days Allahabad 24 April 2001 [162]
20 Kurian Joseph 8 February 2010 7 March 2013 3 years, 28 days Kerala 12 July 2000 Elevated to Supreme Court
-- R. B. Misra 8 March 2013 3 April 2013 27 days 210 days[o] Allahabad 24 April 2001
21 Ajay Manikrao Khanwilkar 4 April 2013 24 November 2013 235 days Bombay 29 March 2000 Transferred to Madhya Pradesh
-- D. D. Sud 24 November 2013 26 November 2013 3 days [162]
22 Mansoor Ahmad Mir 27 November 2013
Permanent from
18 June 2014		 24 April 2017 2 years, 311 days 3 years, 149 days ACJ: (27 November 2013 – 17 June 2014)
-- Sanjay Karol 25 April 2017 5 October 2018 1 year, 164 days
23 Surya Kant 5 October 2018 23 May 2019 231 days Punjab & Haryana 9 January 2004 Elevated to Supreme Court
-- D. C. Chaudhary 24 May 2019 21 June 2019 29 days
24 V. Ramasubramanian 22 June 2019 22 September 2019 93 days Elevated to Supreme Court
-- D. C. Chaudhary 23 September 2019 5 October 2019 13 days 42 days[p]
25 Lingappa Narayana Swamy 6 October 2019 30 June 2021 1 year, 268 days
-- Ravi Malimath 1 July 2021 13 October 2021 105 days Transferred as 27th CJ of Madhya Pradesh
26 Mohammad Rafiq 14 October 2021 24 May 2022 134 days
-- Sabina 25 May 2022 22 June 2022 29 days Punjab & Haryana 12 March 2008 [163]
27 Amjad Ahtesham Sayed 23 June 2022 20 January 2023 212 days Bombay 11 April 2007
-- Sabina 21 January 2023 19 April 2023 89 days 118 days[q] Punjab & Haryana 12 March 2008 Retired as Acting CJ
-- T. S. Chauhan 20 April 2023 29 May 2023 40 days
28 Mamidanna Satyratna Ramachandra Rao 30 May 2023 24 September 2024 1 year, 118 days Telangana 29 June 2012 Transferred to Jharkhand
29 Rajiv Shakdher 25 September 2024 18 October 2024 24 days
-- T. S. Chauhan 19 October 2024 28 December 2024 71 days 111 days[r]
30 Gurmeet Singh Sandhawalia 29 December 2024 Incumbent 1 year, 130 days Punjab & Haryana 30 September 2011
Close

Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court

The Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court was established on 26 March 1928 under Letters Patent issued by then Maharaja of Kashmir, Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 and has had 38 Chief Justices[164] excluding Acting Chief Justices.[165]

More information Sr. No., Name ...
Sr. No. Name Portrait Date of Appointment Date of Retirement Tenure Total tenure[a][b] Parent High Court Date of initial Appointment Remarks Ref..
Pre Independence
1 Kanwar Sain 27 April 1928 15 February 1931 2 years, 295 days
2 Birjor Dalal 16 February 1931 23 November 1936 5 years, 282 days Allahabad 1925
3 Abdul Qayoom 24 November 1936 20 July 1940 3 years, 240 days
4 Rachpal Singh 13 August 1940 6 March 1942 1 year, 206 days Allahabad 1934
5 Ganga Nath 24 June 1942 23 October 1945 3 years, 122 days Allahabad 1937
6 Sarat Kumar Ghosh 29 March 1946 29 March 1948 2 years, 1 day Calcutta September 1929 Transferred to Rajasthan[s]
Post Independence
7 Janki Nath Wazir 30 March 1948 2 December 1967 19 years, 248 days
8 Syed Murtaza Fazl Ali 3 December 1967 1 April 1975 7 years, 120 days Elevated to Supreme Court
9 Raja Jaswant Singh 2 April 1975 22 January 1976 296 days Elevated to Supreme Court
10 Muhammed Rafeeudin Ahmed Ansari 23 January 1976 8 November 1977 1 year, 290 days
11 Mian Jalal-ud-Din 15 February 1978 22 February 1980 2 years, 8 days
12 Mufti Baha-ud-Din 23 February 1980
Permanent from
7 March 1983		 23 August 1983 170 days 3 years, 182 days ACJ: (23 February 1980 – 6 March 1983) [166]
13 Vazhakkulangarayil Khalid 24 August 1983 24 June 1984 306 days Kerala 7 March 1974 Elevated to Supreme Court
14 Adarsh Sein Anand Adarsh Sein Anand 25 June 1984
Permanent from
11 May 1985		 23 October 1989 4 years, 166 days 5 years, 121 days ACJ: (25 June 1984 – 10 May 1985)
Transferred to Madras
15 Sukhdev Singh Kang 24 October 1989 14 May 1993 3 years, 203 days Punjab & Haryana 19 February 1979
16 Satish Chandra Mathur 10 October 1993 17 March 1994 159 days Allahabad 30 March 1978
17 Saiyed Sagir Ahmed 18 March 1994 22 September 1994 189 days Allahabad 2 November 1981 Transferred to Undivided Andhra Pradesh
18 M. Ramakrishna 10 October 1994 15 June 1997 2 years, 249 days Transferred to Gauhati
19 Bhawani Singh 16 June 1997 20 February 2000 2 years, 250 days Transferred to Madhya Pradesh
20 Bhagwati Prasad Saraf 21 February 2000 22 August 2001 1 year, 183 days
21 Hotoi Khetoho Sema 23 August 2001
Permanent from
12 September 2001		 4 March 2002 174 days 194 days ACJ: (23 August 2001 – 11 September 2001)
Elevated to Supreme Court		 [129][167]
-- V. K. Jhanji 9 April 2002 14 May 2002 36 days Punjab & Haryana 15 March 1991 [162]
22 Babulal Chandulal Patel 15 May 2002 4 March 2003 294 days Transferred to Delhi
-- V. K. Jhanji 5 March 2003 4 February 2004 337 days 1 year,
8 days[t]		 Punjab & Haryana 15 March 1991
23 Sachchidanand Jha 4 February 2004 11 October 2005 1 year, 250 days Transferred to Rajasthan
24 Bashir Ahmed Khan 25 January 2007 31 March 2007 66 days
-- N. A. Kakru 1 April 2007 5 June 2007 66 days [93]
-- Aftab Alam 6 June 2007 11 November 2007 159 days Elevated to Supreme Court [168]
-- N. A. Kakru 12 November 2007 6 January 2008 56 days
25 Kalavamkodath Sivasankara Panicker Radhakrishnan 7 January 2008 28 August 2008 235 days Kerala 17 May 1995 Transferred to Gujarat
26 Manmohan Sarin 4 September 2008 19 October 2008 46 days
-- N. A. Kakru 20 October 2008 2 January 2009 75 days 197 days[u]
27 Barin Ghosh 3 January 2009 12 April 2010 1 year, 100 days Calcutta 14 July 1995 Transferred to Sikkim
28 Aftab Hussain Saikia 13 April 2010 6 April 2011 359 days
29 Fakir Mohamed Ibrahim Kalifulla 7 April 2011
Permanent from
18 September 2011		 1 April 2012 197 days 361 days ACJ: (7 April 2011 – 17 September 2011)
Elevated to Supreme Court		 [169]
-- Virender Singh 2 April 2012 8 June 2012 68 days Punjab & Haryana 2 July 2002
30 Mahesh Mittal Kumar 9 June 2012 4 January 2015 2 years, 210 days Punjab & Haryana 2 July 2001
-- M. Y. Mir 5 January 2015 2 February 2015 29 days [165]
31 Narayanan Nadar Paul Vasanthakumar 2 February 2015 14 March 2017 2 years, 41 days
-- R. Sudhakar 15 March 2017 31 March 2017 17 days
32 Badar Durrez Ahmed 1 April 2017 15 March 2018 349 days
-- R. Sudhakar 16 March 2018 11 May 2018 57 days 74 days[v] Transferred as 5th CJ of Manipur
-- Alok Aradhe 11 May 2018 10 August 2018 92 days Madhya Pradesh 29 December 2009 [170]
33 Gita Mittal 11 August 2018 8 December 2020 2 years, 120 days
-- Rajesh Bindal 9 December 2020 3 January 2021 26 days Punjab & Haryana 22 March 2006 Transferred as Judge to Calcutta
34 Pankaj Mithal 4 January 2021 11 October 2022 1 year, 281 days Allahabad 7 July 2006 Transferred to Rajasthan
35 Ali Mohammad Magrey 12 October 2022 7 December 2022 57 days
-- Tashi Rabstan 8 December 2022 14 February 2023 69 days
36 Nongmeikapam Kotiswar Singh 15 February 2023 17 July 2024 1 year, 154 days Manipur 17 October 2011 Elevated to Supreme Court
37 Tashi Rabstan 18 July 2024
Permanent from
27 September 2024		 9 April 2025 195 days 335 days[w] ACJ: (18 July 2024 – 26 September 2024)
-- Sanjeev Kumar 10 April 2025 15 April 2025 6 days [171]
38 Arun Palli 16 April 2025 Incumbent 1 year, 22 days Punjab & Haryana 28 December 2013
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Jharkhand High Court

The Jharkhand High Court was established on 15 November 2000 under Bihar Reorganisation Act, 2000 and has had 18 Chief Justices[172] excluding Acting Chief Justices.

More information Sr. No., Name ...
Permanent Chief Justices
Sr. No. Name Portrait Date of Appointment Date of Retirement Tenure Parent High Court Date of initial Appointment
1 Vinod Kumar Gupta 5 December 2000 4 March 2003[x] 2 years, 90 days
2 Perubhemba Krishna Ayer Balasubramanyan 10 March 2003[y] 26 August 2004[‡] 1 year, 170 days Kerala 4 June 1992
3 Altamas Kabir Altamas Kabir 1 March 2005 8 September 2005[‡] 192 days Calcutta 6 August 1990
4 Nelavoy Dhinakar 4 December 2005 9 June 2006 188 days
5 Muthusamy Karpaga Vinayagam 17 September 2006 15 May 2008 1 year, 242 days
6 Gyan Sudha Misra 13 July 2008 30 April 2010[‡] 1 year, 292 days
7 Bhagwati Prasad 22 August 2010 12 May 2011 264 days
8 Prakash Chandra Tatia 11 September 2011 3 August 2013 1 year, 327 days
9 R. Banumathi 16 November 2013 12 August 2014[‡] 270 days
10 Virender Singh 1 November 2014 6 October 2016 1 year, 341 days Punjab & Haryana 2 July 2002
11 Pradip Kumar Mohanty 24 March 2017 9 June 2017 78 days Orissa 7 March 2002
12 Aniruddha Bose 11 August 2018 23 May 2019[‡] 286 days Calcutta 19 January 2004
13 Ravi Ranjan 17 November 2019 19 December 2022 3 years, 33 days
14 Sanjaya Kumar Mishra 20 February 2023 28 December 2023 312 days Orissa 7 October 2009
15 Bidyut Ranjan Sarangi 5 July 2024 19 July 2024 15 days Orissa 20 June 2013
16 Mamidanna Satyaratna Ramachandra Rao 25 September 2024[z] 21 July 2025[aa] 300 days Telangana 29 June 2012
17 Tarlok Singh Chauhan 23 July 2025 8 January 2026 170 days
18 Mahesh Sharadchandra Sonak 9 January 2026 Incumbent 119 days Bombay 21 June 2013
Close
More information Name, From ...
Acting Chief Justices
Name From To Tenure Appointed due to Parent High Court Date of initial Appointment Ref..
V. K. Gupta 15 November 2000 4 December 2000[§] 20 days Creation of New HC [154]
S. J. Mukhopadhaya 27 August 2004 28 February 2005 186 days Elevation of CJ P. K. Balasubramanyan to SCI [173]
9 September 2005 3 December 2005 86 days Elevation of CJ A. Kabir to SCI
10 June 2006 28 August 2006 80 days Retirement of CJ N. Dhinakar
M. Y. Eqbal 29 August 2006 16 September 2006 19 days Transfer of ACJ S. J. Mukhopadhaya as Judge to Madras [174]
16 May 2008 12 July 2008 58 days Retirement of CJ M. K. Vinayagam [175]
1 May 2010 10 June 2010[+][ab] 41 days Elevation of CJ G. S. Misra to SCI [176]
Sushil Harkauli 11 June 2010 21 August 2010 72 days Elevation of ACJ M. Y. Eqbal as 36th CJ of Madras Allahabad 5 February 1999 [177]
P. C. Tatia 13 May 2011 10 September 2011[§] 121 days Retirement of CJ Bhagwati Prasad
D. N. Patel 4 August 2013 15 November 2013 104 days Retirement of CJ P. C. Tatia [178]
13 August 2014 31 October 2014 80 days Elevation of CJ R. Banumathi to SCI
10 June 2017 10 August 2018 1 year, 62 days Retirement of CJ P. K. Mohanty
24 May 2019 6 June 2019[+][ac] 14 days Elevation of CJ Aniruddha Bose to SCI
P. K. Mohanty 7 October 2016 23 March 2017[§] 168 days Retirement of CJ Virender Singh Orissa 7 March 2002
Prashant Kumar 7 June 2019 30 August 2019[†] 85 days Elevation of ACJ D. N. Patel as 31st CJ of Delhi [179]
H. C. Mishra 30 August 2019 16 November 2019 79 days Death of ACJ Prashant Kumar [180]
A. K. Singh 20 December 2022 19 February 2023 62 days Retirement of CJ Ravi Ranjan [181]
Shree Chandrashekhar 29 December 2023 4 July 2024 189 days Retirement of CJ S. K. Mishra [182]
Sujit Narayan Prasad 20 July 2024 24 September 2024 67 days Retirement of CJ B. R. Sarangi [183]
22 July 2025 22 July 2025 1 day Transfer of CJ M. S. R. Rao to Tripura
Close
  1. [a]
    Total tenure includes : (a) continuous successive tenures as Acting Chief Justice and Chief Justice (b) broken tenures as Acting Chief Justice and Chief Justice (c) broken tenures as Acting Chief Justice
  2. [b]
    Total tenure is mentioned at the time when the person served for last time Example: A judge served as ACJ in 2007 then in 2008 and again as CJ in 2009 then total tenure would be mentioned when he served for last time in 2009
  3. [c]
    Previously served as Acting Chief Justice in 2019
  4. [d]
    Previously served as Acting Chief Justice in 2013
  5. [e]
    Previously served as Acting Chief Justice in 1984-85
  6. [f]
    Previously served as Acting Chief Justice in 2004-05 and 2005
  7. [g]
    Previously served as Acting Chief Justice in 2018
  8. [h]
    Previously served as Acting Chief Justice in 2020-21 and 2022
  9. [i]
    Previously served as Acting Chief Justice in 2023-24
  10. [j]
    Previously served as Chief Justice from 1973 to 1976
  11. [k]
    Previously served as Acting Chief Justice in 1990
  12. [l]
    Previously served as Acting Chief Justice in 1995-96
  13. [m]
    Previously served as Acting Chief Justice in 2008
  14. [n]
    Previously served as Acting Chief Justice 5 times; in 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2002
  15. [o]
    Previously served as Acting Chief Justice in 2009-10
  16. [p]
    Previously served as Acting Chief Justice in May 2019
  17. [q]
    Previously served as Acting Chief Justice in 2022
  18. [r]
    Previously served as Acting Chief Justice in 2023
  19. [s]
    Then known as High Court of Princely State of Jaipur
  20. [t]
    Previously served as Acting Chief Justice in 2002
  21. [u]
    Previously served twice as Acting Chief Justice in 2007 and in 2008
  22. [v]
    Previously served as Acting Chief Justice in 2017
  23. [w]
    Previously served as Acting Chief Justice in 2022-23
  24. [x]
    Transferred to Himachal Pradesh High Court
  25. [y]
    Previously serving as CJ of Orissa High Court before being transferred as CJ of Jharkhand
  26. [z]
    Previously serving as CJ of Himachal Pradesh High Court before being transferred as CJ of Jharkhand
  27. [aa]
    Transferred to Tripura High Court
  28. [ab]
    Elevated as Chief Justice of Madras High Court
  29. [ac]
    Elevated as Chief Justice of Delhi High Court

Karnataka High Court

The Karnataka High Court was established in 1884 under the Mysore High Court Act, 1884 and has had 35 Chief Justices excluding Acting Chief Justices.

More information Sr. No., Name ...
Sr. No. Name Portrait Date of Appointment Date of Retirement Tenure Total tenure[a][b] Parent High Court Date of initial Appointment Remarks Ref..
1 Rudrapatna Venkataramaiah 1 November 1956 16 July 1957 258 days
-- N. Srinivasa Rau 16 July 1957 24 July 1957 9 days
2 Subodh Ranjan Das Gupta 25 July 1957 13 August 1961 4 years, 20 days Calcutta 13 June 1949 [184]
3 Nittoor Srinivasa Rau 13 August 1961
Permanent from
29 March 1962		 7 August 1963 1 year, 132 days 2 years, 18 days ACJ: (13 August 1961 – 28 March 1962) [185]
-- Hombe Gowda 7 August 1963 1 August 1969 5 years, 360 days [186]
4 Arni Ramasvami Somanath Iyer 1 August 1969
Permanent from
23 November 1969		 29 December 1969 37 days 151 days ACJ: (1 August 1969 – 22 November 1969) [187]
5 Mahadevayya Sadasivayya 30 December 1969 16 September 1970 261 days
6 A. Narayana Pai 17 September 1970 6 June 1973 2 years, 263 days
7 Guthu Kpnethota Govinda Bhat 7 June 1973 14 December 1977 4 years, 191 days
-- C. Honniah 15 December 1977 21 March 1978 97 days [188]
8 Deshmudre Mallappa Chandrashekhar 22 March 1978 25 September 1982 4 years, 188 days
9 Koratagere Bhimaiah 26 September 1982
Permanent from
28 October 1982		 10 April 1983 165 days 197 days ACJ: (26 September 1982 – 27 October 1982) [189]
10 Vijaykumar Siddheshwaraswami Malimath 6 February 1984 24 October 1985 1 year, 261 days Transferred to Kerala
-- K. Jagannatha Shetty 24 October 1985 17 August 1986 298 days [190]
11 Prem Chand Jain 18 August 1986 16 September 1989 3 years, 30 days Punjab & Haryana 24 June 1968
12 Shanmughasundaram Mohan 26 October 1989 6 October 1991 1 year, 346 days Elevated to Supreme Court
13 Sam Piroj Bharucha Sam Piroj Bharucha 1 November 1991 30 June 1992 243 days Bombay 19 September 1977 Elevated to Supreme Court
-- K. A. Swamy 1 July 1992 1 July 1993 1 year, 1 day Transferred as 26th CJ of Madras [188]
14 Shailesh Bhadrayulal Majumdar 2 July 1993 18 September 1994 1 year, 79 days Elevated to Supreme Court
15 Girish Thakorlal Nanavati 28 September 1994 5 March 1995 159 days Elevated to Supreme Court
16 Madhav Laxman Pendse 28 July 1995 25 March 1996 242 days Bombay 25 January 1978
17 S. A. Hakeem 3 May 1996 9 May 1996 7 days
18 Ram Prakash Sethi 29 June 1996 6 January 1999 2 years, 192 days Elevated to Supreme Court
19 Yarabati Bhaskar Rao 7 January 1999
Permanent from
9 March 1999		 26 June 2000 1 year, 110 days 1 year, 172 days Andhra Pradesh 11 July 1986 ACJ: (7 January 1999 – 8 March 1999) [187]
-- Ashok Bhan 27 June 2000 20 October 2000 116 days Punjab & Haryana 15 June 1990 [191]
20 Ponaka Venkatarama Reddi 21 October 2000 16 August 2001 300 days Andhra Pradesh 16 March 1990 Elevated to Supreme Court
-- G. C. Bharuka 17 August 2001 30 August 2001 14 days [192]
21 Nagendra Kumar Jain 31 August 2001 20 October 2004 3 years, 51 days
-- S. R. Nayak 20 October 2004 18 November 2004 30 days Transferred as 5th CJ of Chhattisgarh [188]
22 Nauvdip Kumar Sodhi 19 November 2004 29 November 2005 1 year, 11 days Punjab & Haryana 15 March 1991
-- B. Padmaraj 29 November 2005 6 January 2006 39 days [192]
23 Cyriac Joseph 7 January 2006 6 July 2008 2 years, 182 days Kerala 6 July 1994 Elevated to Supreme Court
-- Deepak Verma 7 July 2008 7 August 2008 32 days Madhya Pradesh 15 December 1994 [193]
24 Paul Daniel Dinakaran Premkumar 8 August 2008 7 August 2010 2 years, 0 days Transferred to Sikkim
25 Jagdish Singh Khehar Jagdish Singh Khehar 8 August 2010 12 September 2011 1 year, 36 days Punjab & Haryana 8 February 1999 Elevated to Supreme Court
26 Vikramajit Sen 13 September 2011
Permanent from
24 December 2011		 24 December 2012 1 year, 1 day 1 year, 103 days ACJ: (13 September 2011 – 23 December 2011)
Elevated to Supreme Court		 [194]
-- K. Sreedhar Rao 25 December 2012 6 March 2013 72 days [195]
27 Dhirendra Hiralal Waghela 7 March 2013 3 June 2015 2 years, 89 days Transferred to Orissa
28 Subhro Kamal Mukherjee 4 June 2015
Permanent from
23 February 2016		 9 October 2017 1 year, 229 days 2 years, 128 days Calcutta 15 September 2000 ACJ: (4 June 2015 – 22 February 2016) [196]
-- H. G. Ramesh 10 October 2017 12 February 2018 126 days
29 Dinesh Maheshwari 12 February 2018 17 January 2019 340 days Elevated to Supreme Court
-- L. N. Swamy 18 January 2019 9 May 2019 112 days [154]
30 Abhay Shreeniwas Oka 10 May 2019 30 August 2021 2 years, 113 days Bombay 29 August 2003 Elevated to Supreme Court
-- S. C. Sharma 31 August 2021 10 October 2021 41 days Madhya Pradesh 18 January 2008 Tansferred as 4th CJ of Telangana
31 Ritu Raj Awasthi 11 October 2021 2 July 2022 265 days Allahabad 13 April 2009
-- Alok Aradhe 3 July 2022 14 October 2022 104 days Madhya Pradesh 29 December 2009 [170]
32 Prasanna Bhalachandra Varale 15 October 2022 24 January 2024 1 year, 102 days Bombay 18 July 2008 Elevated to Supreme Court
33 Pratinidhi Srinivasacharya Dinesh Kumar 25 January 2024
Permanent from
3 February 2024		 24 February 2024 22 days 31 days ACJ: (25 January 2024 – 2 February 2024) [197]
34 Nilay Vipinchandra Anjaria 25 February 2024 29 May 2025 1 year, 94 days Elevated to Supreme Court
-- V. Kameswar Rao 30 May 2025 18 July 2025 50 days Transferred as Judge to Delhi
35 Vibhu Bakhru 19 July 2025 Incumbent 293 days 17 April 2013
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Kerala High Court

The Kerala High Court was established on 1 November 1956 under States Reorganisation Act, 1956 and has had 40 Chief Justices excluding Acting Chief Justices.

More information Sr. No., Name ...
Permanent Chief Justices
Sr. No. Name Portrait Date of Appointment Date of Retirement Tenure Parent High Court Date of initial Appointment Ref..
1 Kaithayil Thomas Koshi 1 November 1956 31 January 1959 2 years, 92 days Cochin[γ] 12 September 1944
2 Kesavan Sankaran 2 February 1959 28 March 1960 1 year, 56 days Cochin[γ] July 1948 [198]
3 Mohammed Ahmed Ansari 29 March 1960 25 November 1961 1 year, 242 days Hyderabad[δ] 29 November 1946 [199]
4 Mannathazhath Sankarakutti Menon 26 November 1961 12 June 1969 7 years, 199 days Cochin[γ] 29 January 1953 [200]
5 Padinharankunnath Thazhathayil Raman Nair 12 June 1969 1 September 1971 2 years, 82 days Kerala 22 February 1957 [201]
6 Thoniparambil Chinnan Raghavan 2 September 1971 21 May 1973 1 year, 262 days Kerala 15 December 1959 [202]
7 Padmanbhapillay Govindan Nair 22 May 1973 2 January 1977[c] 3 years, 226 days Kerala 29 January 1962
8 Vannathankandiyil Puthiyedath Gopalan Nambiyar 3 January 1977 18 January 1980 3 years, 16 days Kerala 22 March 1965 [203]
9 Vettath Balakrishna Eradi 19 January 1980 29 January 1981[‡] 1 year, 11 days Kerala 5 April 1967
10 Padmanabhan Subramanian Poti 6 June 1983 27 September 1983[d] 114 days Kerala 20 March 1969 [204]
11 Kattali Bhaskaran 21 March 1985 8 October 1985[e] 202 days Kerala 3 April 1972 [205]
12 Vijaykumar Siddheshwaraswami Malimath 25 October 1985[f] 10 June 1991 5 years, 229 days
13 Mamidanna Jagannadha Rao 8 August 1991 5 April 1994[g] 2 years, 241 days Andhra Pradesh 29 November 1982
14 Sujata Manohar 21 April 1994[h] 4 November 1994[‡] 198 days Bombay 23 January 1978
15 Manadath Mohammed Pareed Pillay 5 November 1994 17 September 1995 317 days Kerala 31 January 1985
16 Uday Pratap Singh 23 July 1996 19 December 1997 1 year, 150 days
17 Om Prakash Verma 20 December 1997 19 March 1999 1 year, 90 days Allahabad 24 May 1984
18 Arijit Pasayat 20 September 1999 8 May 2000[g] 233 days Orissa 20 March 1989
19 Arvind Vinayakarao Savant 30 May 2000 16 September 2000 110 days Bombay 30 July 1990
20 Karinchet Kumaran Usha 30 November 2000 2 July 2001 215 days Kerala 25 February 1991
21 Bellur Narayanswamy Srikrishna 7 September 2001 1 October 2002[‡] 1 year, 25 days Bombay 30 July 1990
22 Jawahar Lal Gupta 2 November 2002 21 January 2004 1 year, 81 days Punjab & Haryana 15 March 1991
23 Nauvdip Kumar Sodhi 6 April 2004 17 November 2004[i] 226 days Punjab & Haryana
24 Bollampally Subhashan Reddy 21 November 2004[j] 1 March 2005 101 days Andhra Pradesh 25 November 1991
25 Rajeev Gupta 27 April 2005 10 January 2006[k] 259 days Madhya Pradesh 27 September 1994
26 Vinod Kumar Bali 22 January 2006 23 January 2007 1 year, 2 days Punjab & Haryana 15 March 1991
27 Handyala Lakshminarayanaswamy Dattu H. L. Dattu 18 May 2007[l] 15 December 2008[‡] 1 year, 212 days
28 Samindar Rudrayya Bannurmath 18 March 2009 22 January 2010 311 days
29 Jasti Chelameswar 17 March 2010[m] 9 October 2011[‡] 1 year, 207 days Andhra Pradesh 23 June 1997
30 Manjula Chellur 26 September 2012 1 August 2014[n] 1 year, 310 days
31 Ashok Bhushan 26 March 2015 12 May 2016[‡] 1 year, 48 days Allahabad 24 April 2001
32 Mohan Shantanagoudar 22 September 2016 16 February 2017[‡] 148 days
33 Navniti Prasad Singh 20 March 2017 6 November 2017 232 days
34 Antony Dominic 9 February 2018 30 May 2018 111 days Kerala 30 January 2007
35 Hrishikesh Roy 8 August 2018 21 September 2019[‡] 1 year, 45 days
36 S. Manikumar 11 October 2019 24 April 2023 3 years, 196 days
37 Sarasa Venkatanarayana Bhatti 1 June 2023 14 July 2023[‡] 44 days Andhra Pradesh 12 April 2013
38 Ashish Jitendra Desai 22 July 2023 4 July 2024 349 days
39 Nitin Madhukar Jamdar 26 September 2024 9 January 2026 1 year, 106 days Bombay 23 January 2012
40 Soumen Sen 10 January 2026[o] Incumbent 118 days Calcutta 13 April 2011
Close

History section of website of Kerala Judicial Academy contains list of former chief justices of Kerala High Court (both acting and permanent) after 1986. Thus the list contained in this website would serve as primary reference for acting chief justices after 1986.[206]

More information Name, From ...
Acting Chief Justices
Name From To Tenure Appointed due to Parent High Court Date of initial Appointment
P. S. Poti[204] 29 January 1981 5 June 1983[§] 2 years, 127 days Elevation of CJ V. B. Eradi to SCI Kerala 20 March 1969
K. Bhaskaran[205] 28 September 1983 20 March 1985[§] 1 year, 174 days Transfer of CJ P. S. Poti to Gujarat Kerala 3 April 1972
T. K. Thommen[205] 9 October 1985 24 October 1985 16 days Transfer of CJ K. Bhaskaran to Undivided Andhra Pradesh Kerala 9 May 1975
U. L. Bhat 11 June 1991 7 August 1991 58 days Retirement of CJ V. S. Malimath Kerala 18 September 1980
Varghese Kalliath 6 April 1994 20 April 1994 15 days Retirement of CJ M. J. Rao Kerala 11 June 1984
K. T. Thomas 18 September 1995 26 March 1996[‡] 191 days Retirement of CJ M. M. Pareed Pillay Kerala 12 August 1985
K. Sreedharan 27 March 1996 22 July 1996 118 days Elevation of ACJ K. T. Thomas to SCI Kerala 10 September 1985
G. Rajasekharan 20 March 1999 23 May 1999 65 days Retirement of CJ O. P. Verma Kerala 23 November 1989
A. R. Lakshmanan 23 May 1999 19 September 1999 120 days Retirement of ACJ G. Rajasekharan
8 May 2000 27 May 2000[§] 20 days Transfer of CJ A. Pasayat to Delhi
K. K. Usha 28 May 2000 29 May 2000 2 days Elevation of ACJ A. R. Lakshmanan as 22nd CJ of Rajasthan Kerala 25 February 1991
17 September 2000 29 November 2000[§] 74 days Retirement of CJ A. V. Savant
P. K. Balasubramanyan 3 July 2001 6 September 2001 66 days Retirement of CJ K. K. Usha Kerala 4 June 1992
Cyriac Joseph 2 October 2002 1 November 2002 31 days Elevation of CJ B. N. Srikrishna to SCI Kerala 6 July 1994
18 November 2004 20 November 2004 3 days Transfer of CJ N. K. Sodhi to Karnataka
2 March 2005 18 March 2005[+][p] 17 days Retirement of CJ B. S. Reddy
N. K. Sodhi 22 January 2004 5 April 2004[§] 75 days Retirement of CJ J. L. Gupta Punjab & Haryana 15 March 1991
K. S. Radhakrishnan 19 March 2005 26 April 2005 39 days Elevation of ACJ Cyriac Joseph as 4th CJ of Uttarakhand Kerala 17 May 1995
11 January 2006 21 January 2006 11 days Transfer of CJ Rajeev Gupta to Uttarakhand
24 January 2007 17 May 2007 114 days Retirement of CJ V. K. Bali
J. B. Koshy 16 December 2008 13 March 2009[+][q] 88 days Elevation of CJ H. L. Dattu to SCI Kerala 17 January 1996
Kurian Joseph 14 March 2009 17 March 2009 4 days Elevation of ACJ J. B. Koshy as 34th CJ of Patna Kerala 12 July 2000
23 January 2010 5 February 2010[+][r] 14 days Retirement of CJ S. R. Bannurmath
Puthucode Ramaswamy Raman 6 February 2010 16 March 2010 39 days Elevation of ACJ Kurian Joseph as 20th CJ of Himachal Pradesh Kerala 7 September 2001
Charnethu Narayana PiIlai Ramachandran Nair 10 October 2011 8 November 2011 30 days Elevation of CJ J. Chelameswar to SCI Kerala
Manjula Chellur 9 November 2011 25 September 2012[§] 322 days Transferred as ACJ
Ashok Bhushan 2 August 2014 25 March 2015[§] 236 days Transfer of CJ Manjula Chellur to Calcutta Allahabad 24 April 2001
T. B. Radhakrishnan 13 May 2016 31 July 2016 80 days Elevation of CJ Ashok Bhushan to SCI Kerala 14 October 2004
16 February 2017 17 March 2017[+][s] 30 days Elevation of CJ M. Shantanagoudar to SCI
Mohan Shantanagoudar 1 August 2016 21 September 2016[§] 52 days Transferred as ACJ
Antony Dominic 17 March 2017 20 March 2017 4 days Elevation of ACJ T. B. Radhakrishnan as 11th CJ of Chhattisgarh Kerala 30 January 2007
6 November 2017 8 February 2018[§] 95 days Retirement of CJ N. P. Singh
Hrishikesh Roy 30 May 2018 7 August 2018[§] 70 days Retirement of CJ Antony Dominic
C. K. Abdul Rehim 22 September 2019 11 October 2019 20 days Elevation of CJ Hrishikesh Roy to SCI Kerala 5 January 2009
S. V. N. Bhatti 24 April 2023 31 May 2023[§] 38 days Retirement of CJ S. Manikumar Andhra Pradesh 12 April 2013
Alexander Thomas 14 July 2023 21 July 2023 8 days Elevation of CJ S. V. N. Bhatti to SCI Kerala 23 January 2014
A. M. Mustaque 5 July 2024 25 September 2024 83 days Retirement of CJ A. J. Desai Kerala
Close
  1. [a]
    Total tenure includes : (a) continuous successive tenures as Acting Chief Justice and Chief Justice (b) broken tenures as Acting Chief Justice and Chief Justice (c) broken tenures as Acting Chief Justice
  2. [b]
    Total tenure is mentioned at the time when the person served for last time Example: A judge served as ACJ in 2007 then in 2008 and again as CJ in 2009 then total tenure would be mentioned when he served for last time in 2009
  3. [c]
    Transferred to Madras High Court
  4. [d]
    Transferred to Gujarat High Court
  5. [e]
    Transferred to Undivided Andhra Pradesh High Court
  6. [f]
    Previously serving as CJ of Karnataka High Court before being transferred as CJ of Kerala
  7. [g]
    Transferred to Delhi High Court
  8. [h]
    Previously serving as CJ of Bombay High Court before being transferred as CJ of Kerala
  9. [i]
    Transferred to Karnataka High Court
  10. [j]
    Previously serving as CJ of Madras High Court before being transferred as CJ of Kerala
  11. [k]
    Transferred to Uttarakhand High Court
  12. [l]
    Previously serving as CJ of Chhattisgarh High Court before being transferred as CJ of Kerala
  13. [m]
    Previously serving as CJ of Gauhati High Court before being transferred as CJ of Kerala
  14. [n]
    Transferred to Calcutta High Court
  15. [o]
    Previously serving as CJ of Meghalaya High Court before being transferred as CJ of Kerala
  16. [p]
    Elevated as Chief Justice of Uttarakhand High Court
  17. [q]
    Elevated as Chief Justice of Patna High Court
  18. [r]
    Elevated as Chief Justice of Himachal Pradesh High Court
  19. [s]
    Elevated as Chief Justice of Chhattisgarh High Court

Madhya Pradesh High Court

The Madhya Pradesh High Court was established on 2 January 1936 under the Government of India Act 1935 and has had 28 Chief Justices[207] excluding Acting Chief Justices.[208]

More information Sr. No., Name ...
Sr. No. Name Portrait Date of Appointment Date of Retirement Tenure Total tenure[a][b] Parent High Court Date of initial Appointment Remarks Ref..
1 Mohammad Hidayatullah Mohammad Hidayatullah 1 November 1956 12 December 1958 2 years, 42 days Nagpur[β] 27 June 1946 Elevated to Supreme Court
2 Ganesh Prasad Bhutt 13 December 1958 22 September 1959 284 days Nagpur[β] 10 February 1953
3 Purushottam Vinayak Dixit 22 September 1959 18 March 1969 9 years, 178 days Gwalior[ε] 1945
4 Bishambhar Dayal 19 March 1969 13 September 1972 3 years, 179 days Allahabad 6 May 1957
5 Prabhakar Keshava Tare 14 September 1972 10 October 1975 3 years, 27 days Madhya Pradesh 14 December 1957
6 Shivdayal Shrivastava 11 October 1975 27 February 1978 2 years, 140 days Madhya Pradesh 3 November 1958
7 Ananda Prakash Sen 28 February 1978 16 July 1978 139 days Madhya Pradesh 7 November 1967 Elevated to Supreme Court
8 Guru Prasanna Singh 17 July 1978
Permanent from
27 July 1978		 3 January 1984 5 years, 161 days 5 years, 174 days Madhya Pradesh ACJ: (14 July 1978 – 26 July 1978)
9 Goverdhan Lal Oza 4 January 1984
Permanent from
1 December 1984		 26 October 1985 330 days 1 year, 296 days Madhya Pradesh 29 July 1968 ACJ: (4 January 1984 – 30 November 1984)
Elevated to Supreme Court		 [209]
10 Jagdish Sharan Verma Jagdish Sharan Verma 27 October 1985
Permanent from
14 June 1986		 31 August 1986 79 days 309 days Madhya Pradesh 12 September 1972 ACJ: (27 October 1985 – 13 June 1986)
Transferred to Rajasthan
-- G. G. Sohani 31 August 1986 7 January 1987 130 days Madhya Pradesh 2 June 1973
11 Narayan Dutt Ojha 8 January 1987 18 January 1988 1 year, 11 days Allahabad 3 September 1971 Elevated to Supreme Court
12 Gangadhar Ganesh Sohani 19 January 1988
Permanent from
20 October 1989		 23 October 1989 4 days 2 years,
43 days[c]		 Madhya Pradesh 2 June 1973 ACJ: (19 January 1988 – 19 October 1989)
Transferred to Patna
13 Sushil Kumar Jha 27 October 1989 15 December 1993 4 years, 50 days
14 Ullal Lakshminarayana Bhat 15 December 1993 13 October 1995 1 year, 303 days Kerala 18 September 1980
15 Ashok Kumar Mathur 13 October 1995
Permanent from
3 February 1996		 21 December 1999 3 years, 322 days 4 years, 70 days ACJ: (13 October 1995 – 2 February 1996)
Transferred to Calcutta
-- D. P. S. Chauhan 22 December 1999 23 February 2000 64 days Allahabad 3 January 1989
16 Bhawani Singh 24 February 2000 24 August 2003 3 years, 182 days Transferred to Gujarat
-- Rajiv Gupta 24 August 2003 5 September 2003 13 days Madhya Pradesh 27 September 1994
17 Kumar Rajarathnam 6 September 2003 12 March 2004 189 days
-- Rajiv Gupta 13 March 2004 7 July 2004 117 days 130 days[d] Madhya Pradesh 27 September 1994
18 Raju Varadarajulu Raveendran 8 July 2004 8 September 2005 1 year, 63 days Elevated to Supreme Court
-- Deepak Verma 9 September 2005 1 October 2005 23 days Madhya Pradesh 15 December 1994
19 Ananga Kumar Patnaik 2 October 2005 16 November 2009 4 years, 46 days Orissa 13 January 1994 Elevated to Supreme Court
-- R. S. Garg 17 November 2009 19 December 2009 33 days Madhya Pradesh 15 December 1994 [210]
20 Syed Rafat Alam 20 December 2009 4 August 2011 1 year, 228 days Transferred to Allahabad
-- Sushil Harkauli 5 August 2011 16 October 2012 1 year, 73 days Allahabad 5 February 1999 Transferred as Judge to Allahabad [177]
21 Sharad Arvind Bobde Sharad Arvind Bobde 16 October 2012 11 April 2013 178 days Bombay 29 March 2000 Elevated to Supreme Court
-- K. K. Lahoti 12 April 2013 23 November 2013 226 days Madhya Pradesh 22 October 2001
22 Ajay Manikrao Khanwilkar 24 November 2013 12 May 2016 2 years, 171 days Bombay 29 March 2000 Elevated to Supreme Court
-- Rajendra Menon 13 May 2016 14 March 2017 306 days Madhya Pradesh 1 April 2002 Transferred as 40th CJ of Patna [211]
-- S. K. Seth 15 March 2017 18 March 2017 3 days Madhya Pradesh 21 March 2003
23 Hemant Gupta 18 March 2017 1 November 2018 1 year, 229 days Punjab & Haryana 2 July 2002 Elevated to Supreme Court
24 Sanjay Kumar Seth 2 November 2018
Permanent from
14 November 2018		 9 June 2019 208 days 223 days[e] Madhya Pradesh 21 March 2003 ACJ: (2 November 2018 – 13 November 2018)
-- R. S. Jha 10 June 2019 5 October 2019 118 days Madhya Pradesh 18 October 2005 Transferred as 35th CJ of Punjab & Haryana [211]
-- Sanjay Yadav 6 October 2019 2 November 2019 28 days Madhya Pradesh 2 March 2007 [212]
25 Ajay Kumar Mittal 3 November 2019 29 September 2020 332 days Punjab & Haryana 9 January 2004
-- Sanjay Yadav 30 September 2020 2 January 2021 95 days 123 days[f] Madhya Pradesh 2 March 2007
26 Mohammad Rafiq 3 January 2021 13 October 2021 284 days Transferred to Himachal Pradesh
27 Ravi Malimath 14 October 2021 24 May 2024 2 years, 224 days
-- Sheel Nagu 25 May 2024 8 July 2024 45 days Madhya Pradesh 27 May 2011 Transferred as 36th CJ of Punjab & Haryana
-- Sanjeev Sachdeva 9 July 2024 24 September 2024 78 days
28 Suresh Kumar Kait 25 September 2024 23 May 2025 241 days
29 Sanjeev Sachdeva 24 May 2025
Permanent from
17 July 2025		 Incumbent 295 days 349 days 17 April 2013 ACJ: (24 May 2025 – 16 July 2025)
Close

Madras High Court

The Madras High Court was established on 15 August 1862 under the Indian High Courts Act 1861 and has had 47 Chief Justices excluding Acting Chief Justices.

More information Sr. No., Name ...
Permanent Chief Justices
Sr. No. Name Portrait Date of Appointment Date of Retirement Tenure Parent High Court Date of initial Appointment
1 Colley Harman Scotland 15 August 1862 21 November 1871 9 years, 99 days
2 Walter Morgan[3] 22 November 1871[g] 7 February 1879 7 years, 78 days Calcutta 1 July 1862
3 Charles Arthur Turner[213] 3 March 1879 1885 Allahabad 1866
4 Arthur John Hammond Collins 1885 1899
5 Charles Arnold White 1899 July 1914
6 John Edward Power Wallis[214] November 1914 1921
7 Walter George Salis Schwabe 1921 1924[RES]
8 Murray Coutts-Trotter 3 June 1924 1929[RES]
9 Horace Owen Compton Beasley 1929 1937 Burma 1923
10 Alfred Henry Lionel Leach 1937 1947 Burma 1933
11 Fredrick William Gentle[215] 12 July 1947 19 April 1948[RES] 283 days
12 Pakala Venkata Rajamannar 20 April 1948 9 May 1961 13 years, 20 days
13 Subramanya Ramachandra Iyer 16 September 1961 1 November 1964[RES] 3 years, 47 days
14 Palagani Chandra Reddy 23 November 1964[h] 30 June 1966 1 year, 220 days
15 Madavayya Anantanarayanan 1 July 1966 30 April 1969 2 years, 304 days
16 Kuppuswami Naidu Veeraswami 1 May 1969 7 April 1976 6 years, 343 days
17 Palapatti Sadaya Goundar Kailasam 8 April 1976 2 January 1977[‡] 270 days
18 Padmanbhapillay Govindan Nair 3 January 1977[i] 28 May 1978 1 year, 146 days Kerala 29 January 1962
19 Tayi Ramaprasada Rao 29 May 1978 5 November 1979 1 year, 161 days
20 Muhammad Kassim Muhammad Ismail 6 November 1979 9 July 1981[RES] 1 year, 246 days
21 Krishna Ballabh Narayan Singh 12 March 1982[j] 24 January 1984 1 year, 319 days
22 Madhukar Narhar Chandurkar 2 April 1984[k] 13 March 1988 3 years, 347 days Bombay 28 October 1967
23 Shanmughasundaram Mohan 19 October 1989 25 October 1989[l] 7 days
24 Adarsh Sein Anand Adarsh Sein Anand 1 November 1989[m] 17 November 1991[‡] 2 years, 17 days
25 Kanta Kumari Bhatnagar 15 June 1992 14 November 1992 153 days
26 Kudarikoti Annadanayya Swamy 1 July 1993 19 March 1997 3 years, 262 days
27 Manmohan Singh Liberhan 7 July 1997 27 December 1998[n] 1 year, 174 days Punjab & Haryana 11 February 1987
28 Ashok Chhotelal Agarwal 24 May 1999 26 August 1999 95 days Bombay 21 November 1986
29 Konakuppakattil Gopinathan Balakrishnan Konakuppakatil Gopinathan Balakrishnan 9 September 1999[o] 7 June 2000[‡] 273 days Kerala 26 September 1985
30 Nagendra Kumar Jain 13 September 2000 30 August 2001[l] 352 days
31 Bollampally Subhashan Reddy 12 September 2001 20 November 2004[p] 3 years, 70 days Andhra Pradesh 25 November 1991
32 Markandey Katju 28 November 2004 10 October 2005[q] 317 days Allahabad 30 November 1991
33 Ajit Prakash Shah 12 November 2005 9 May 2008[q] 2 years, 180 days Bombay 18 December 1992
34 Asok Kumar Ganguly 19 May 2008[r] 15 December 2008[‡] 211 days Calcutta 10 January 1994
35 Hemant Laxman Gokhale 9 March 2009[g] 28 April 2010[‡] 1 year, 51 days Bombay 20 January 1994
36 Mokhtarajama Yusuf Eqbal 11 June 2010 23 December 2012[‡] 2 years, 196 days
37 Rajesh Kumar Agrawal 24 October 2013 16 February 2014[‡] 116 days Allahabad 5 February 1999
38 Sanjay Kishan Kaul 26 July 2014[s] 16 February 2017[‡] 2 years, 206 days
39 Indira Banerjee 5 April 2017 6 August 2018[‡] 1 year, 124 days Calcutta 5 February 2002
40 Vijaya Kamlesh Tahilramani 12 August 2018 6 September 2019[RES] 1 year, 26 days Bombay 26 June 2001
41 Amreshwar Pratap Sahi 11 November 2019[j] 31 December 2020 1 year, 51 days Allahabad 24 September 2004
42 Sanjib Banerjee 4 January 2021 16 November 2021[t] 317 days Calcutta 22 June 2006
43 Munishwar Nath Bhandari 14 February 2022 12 September 2022 211 days
44 Sanjay Vijaykumar Gangapurwala 28 May 2023 23 May 2024 362 days Bombay 13 March 2010
45 Kalpathi Rajendran Shriram 27 September 2024 20 July 2025[u] 297 days Bombay 21 June 2013
46 Manindra Mohan Shrivastava 21 July 2025[v] 5 March 2026 228 days 10 December 2009
47 Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari 6 March 2026 Incumbent 63 days Madhya Pradesh 7 April 2016
Close
More information Name, From ...
Acting Chief Justices
Name From To Tenure Appointed due to Parent High Court Date of initial Appointment Ref..
S. R. Iyer 10 May 1961 15 September 1961[§] 129 days Retirement of CJ P. V. Rajamannar [216]
P. R. Gokulakrishnan 10 July 1981 11 March 1982 245 days Resignation of CJ M. M. Ismail [217]
25 January 1984 2 April 1984 69 days Retirement of CJ K. B. N. Singh [218]
S. R. Pandian 14 March 1988 13 December 1988[‡] 275 days Retirement of CJ M. N. Chandurkar [219]
S. Mohan 14 December 1988 18 October 1989[§] 309 days Elevation of ACJ S. R. Pandian to SCI [220]
S. N. Sundaram 18 November 1991 14 June 1992[+][w] 210 days Elevation of CJ A. S. Anand to SCI [221]
V. Ratnam 15 November 1992 30 June 1993 228 days Retirement of CJ K. K. Bhatnagar [154]
K. A. Thanikkachallam 20 March 1997 6 July 1997 109 days Retirement of CJ K. A. Swamy [222]
Shivaraj Patil 28 December 1998 19 January 1999[+][x] 23 days Transfer of CJ M. S. Liberhan to Undivided Andhra Pradesh [223]
N. K. Jain 20 January 1999 23 May 1999 124 days Elevation of ACJ Shivaraj Patil as 21st CJ of Rajasthan [224]
27 August 1999 8 September 1999 13 days Retirement of CJ A. C. Agarwal
7 June 2000 12 September 2000[§] 98 days Elevation of CJ K. G. Balakrishnan to SCI
N. Dhinakar 11 October 2005 11 November 2005 32 days Transfer of CJ Markandey Katju to Delhi [174]
S. J. Mukhopadhaya 10 May 2008 18 May 2008 9 days Transfer of CJ A. P. Shah to Delhi [173]
16 December 2008 8 March 2009 83 days Elevation of CJ A. K. Ganguly to SCI [225]
Elipe Dharma Rao 29 April 2010 10 June 2010 43 days Elevation of CJ H. L. Gokhale to SCI [226]
24 December 2012 6 February 2013 45 days Elevation of CJ M. Y. Eqbal to SCI
R. K. Agrawal 7 February 2013 23 October 2013[§] 259 days Transferred as ACJ Allahabad 5 February 1999
S. K. Agnihotri 16 February 2014 25 July 2014 160 days Elevation of CJ R. K. Agrawal to SCI [227]
Huluvadi G. Ramesh 16 February 2017 4 April 2017 48 days Elevation of CJ S. K. Kaul to SCI [228]
7 August 2018 11 August 2018 5 days Elevation of CJ Indira Banerjee to SCI
Vineet Kothari 7 September 2019 10 November 2019 65 days Resignation of CJ V. K. Tahilramani [229]
1 January 2021 3 January 2021 3 days Retirement of CJ A. P. Sahi [230]
M. Duraiswamy 17 November 2021 21 November 2021 5 days Transfer of CJ S. Banerjee to Meghalaya [231]
13 September 2022 21 September 2022 9 days Retirement of CJ M. N. Bhandari [232]
M. N. Bhandari 22 November 2021 13 February 2022[§] 84 days Transferred as ACJ [233]
T. Raja 22 September 2022 24 May 2023 245 days Retirement of ACJ M. Duraiswamy [234]
S. Vaidyanathan 25 May 2023 27 May 2023 3 days Retirement of ACJ T. Raja [235]
R. Mahadevan 24 May 2024 17 July 2024[‡] 55 days Retirement of CJ S. V. Gangapurwala [236]
D. Krishnakumar 18 July 2024 26 September 2024 72 days Elevation of ACJ R. Mahadevan to SCI
Close
  1. [a]
    Total tenure includes : (a) continuous successive tenures as Acting Chief Justice and Chief Justice (b) broken tenures as Acting Chief Justice and Chief Justice (c) broken tenures as Acting Chief Justice
  2. [b]
    Total tenure is mentioned at the time when the person served for last time Example: A judge served as ACJ in 2007 then in 2008 and again as CJ in 2009 then total tenure would be mentioned when he served for last time in 2009
  3. [c]
    Previously served as Acting Chief Justice in 1986
  4. [d]
    Previously served as Acting Chief Justice in 2003
  5. [e]
    Previously served as Acting Chief Justice in 2017
  6. [f]
    Previously served as Acting Chief Justice in 2019
  7. [g]
    Previously serving as CJ of Allahabad High Court before being transferred as CJ of Madras
  8. [h]
    Previously serving as CJ of Undivided Andhra Pradesh High Court before being transferred as CJ of Madras
  9. [i]
    Previously serving as CJ of Kerala High Court before being transferred as CJ of Madras
  10. [j]
    Previously serving as CJ of Patna High Court before being transferred as CJ of Madras
  11. [k]
    Previously serving as CJ of Bombay High Court before being transferred as CJ of Madras
  12. [l]
    Transferred to Karnataka High Court
  13. [m]
    Previously serving as CJ of Jammu & Kashmir High Court before being transferred as CJ of Madras
  14. [n]
    Transferred to Undivided Andhra Pradesh High Court
  15. [o]
    Previously serving as CJ of Gujarat High Court before being transferred as CJ of Madras
  16. [p]
    Transferred to Kerala High Court
  17. [q]
    Transferred to Delhi High Court
  18. [r]
    Previously serving as CJ of Orissa High Court before being transferred as CJ of Madras
  19. [s]
    Previously serving as CJ of Punjab & Haryana High Court before being transferred as CJ of Madras
  20. [t]
    Transferred to Meghalaya High Court
  21. [u]
    Transferred to Rajasthan High Court
  22. [v]
    Previously serving as CJ of Rajasthan High Court before being transferred as CJ of Madras
  23. [w]
    Elevated as Chief Justice of Gujarat High Court
  24. [x]
    Elevated as Chief Justice of Rajasthan High Court

Manipur High Court

The Manipur High Court was established on 25 March 2013 under the North-Eastern Areas (Reorganisation) and Other Related Laws (Amendment) Act, 2012 and has had 10 Chief Justices excluding Acting Chief Justices.

More information Sr. No., Name ...
Sr. No. Name Portrait Date of Appointment Date of Retirement Tenure Total tenure[a][b] Parent High Court Date of initial Appointment Remarks Ref..
1 Abhay Manohar Sapre 23 March 2013 18 October 2013 231 days Madhya Pradesh 25 October 1999 Transferred to Gauhati
2 Laxmi Kanta Mohapatra 21 October 2013
Permanent from
10 July 2014		 9 June 2016 1 year, 336 days 2 years, 233 days Orissa 16 January 1999 ACJ: (21 October 2013 – 9 July 2014)
3 Rakesh Ranjan Prasad 10 June 2016
Permanent from
22 September 2016		 30 June 2017 282 days 1 year, 21 days ACJ: (10 June 2016 – 21 September 2016) [237]
-- N. Kotiswar Singh 1 July 2017 8 February 2018 223 days [134]
4 Abhilasha Kumari 9 February 2018 23 February 2018 15 days
-- N. Kotiswar Singh 24 February 2018 17 May 2018 83 days 306 days[c]
5 Ramalingam Sudhakar 18 May 2018 13 February 2021 2 years, 272 days
6 Puligoru Venkata Sanjay Kumar 14 February 2021 5 February 2023 1 year, 357 days Telangana 8 August 2008 Elevated to Supreme Court
-- M. V. Muralidaran 6 February 2023 19 October 2023 256 days Transferred as Judge to Calcutta
7 Siddharth Mridul 20 October 2023 21 November 2024 1 year, 33 days
8 Deivasigamani Krishnakumar 22 November 2024 21 May 2025 181 days
9 Kempaiah Somashekar 22 May 2025 14 September 2025 116 days
10 M. Sundar 15 September 2025 Incumbent 235 days
Close

Meghalaya High Court

The Meghalaya High Court was established on 23 March 2013 under the North-Eastern Areas (Reorganisation) and Other Related Laws (Amendment) Act, 2012 and has had 15 Chief Justices[238] excluding Acting Chief Justices.

More information Sr. No., Name ...
Permanent Chief Justices
Sr. No. Name Portrait Date of Appointment Date of Retirement Tenure Parent High Court Date of initial Appointment
1 Toom Meena Kumari 23 March 2013 3 August 2013 134 days Andhra Pradesh 23 February 1998
2 Prafulla Chandra Pant 20 September 2013 12 August 2014[‡] 327 days
3 Uma Nath Singh 19 March 2015 14 January 2016 302 days Madhya Pradesh 22 October 2001
4 Dinesh Maheshwari 24 February 2016 11 February 2018[d] 1 year, 356 days
5 Tarun Agarwala 12 February 2018 2 March 2018 19 days Allahabad 7 January 2004
6 Mohammad Yaqoob Mir 21 May 2018 27 May 2019 1 year, 7 days
7 Ajay Kumar Mittal 28 May 2019 2 November 2019[e] 159 days Punjab & Haryana 9 January 2004
8 Mohammad Rafiq 13 November 2019 26 April 2020[f] 166 days
9 Biswanath Somadder 27 April 2020 11 October 2021[g] 1 year, 168 days Calcutta 22 June 2006
10 Ranjit Vasantrao More 12 October 2021 3 November 2021 23 days Bombay 8 September 2006
11 Sanjib Banerjee 24 November 2021[h] 1 November 2023 1 year, 343 days Calcutta 22 June 2006
12 S. Vaidyanathan 11 February 2024 16 August 2024 188 days
13 Indra Prasanna Mukerji 3 October 2024 5 September 2025 338 days Calcutta 18 May 2009
14 Soumen Sen 8 October 2025 9 January 2026[i] 94 days Calcutta 13 April 2011
15 Revati Prashant Mohite Dere 10 January 2026 Incumbent 118 days Bombay 21 June 2013
Close
More information Name, From ...
Acting Chief Justices
Name From To Tenure Appointed due to Parent High Court Date of initial Appointment
T. Nandakumar Singh[239] 4 August 2013 19 September 2013 47 days Retirement of CJ T. Meena Kumari
13 August 2014 26 August 2014 14 days Elevation of CJ P. C. Pant to SCI
15 January 2016 31 January 2016 17 days Retirement of CJ U. N. Singh
U. N. Singh[211] 27 August 2014 18 March 2015[§] 204 days Transferred as ACJ Madhya Pradesh 22 October 2001
Sudip Ranjan Sen[240] 1 February 2016 23 February 2016 24 days Retirement of ACJ T. N. Singh
3 March 2018 20 May 2018 79 days Retirement of CJ Tarun Agarwala
H. S. Thangkhiew 3 November 2019 12 November 2019 10 days Transfer of CJ A. K. Mittal to Madhya Pradesh
4 November 2021 23 November 2021 20 days Retirement of CJ R. V. More
2 November 2023 10 February 2024 101 days Retirement of CJ S. Banerjee
17 August 2024 2 October 2024 47 days Retirement of CJ S. Vaidyanathan
6 September 2025 7 October 2025 32 days Retirement of CJ I. P. Mukerji
Close
  1. [a]
    Total tenure includes : (a) continuous successive tenures as Acting Chief Justice and Chief Justice (b) broken tenures as Acting Chief Justice and Chief Justice (c) broken tenures as Acting Chief Justice
  2. [b]
    Total tenure is mentioned at the time when the person served for last time Example: A judge served as ACJ in 2007 then in 2008 and again as CJ in 2009 then total tenure would be mentioned when he served for last time in 2009
  3. [c]
    Previously served as Acting Chief Justice in 2017-18
  4. [d]
    Transferred to Karnataka High Court
  5. [e]
    Transferred to Madhya Pradesh High Court
  6. [f]
    Transferred to Orissa High Court
  7. [g]
    Transferred to Sikkim High Court
  8. [h]
    Previously serving as CJ of Madras High Court before being transferred as CJ of Meghalaya
  9. [i]
    Transferred to Kerala High Court

Orissa High Court

The Orissa High Court was established on 3 April 1948 under the Orissa High Court Ordinance, 1948 and has had 35 Chief Justices excluding Acting Chief Justices.

More information Sr. No., Name ...
Sr. No. Name Portrait Date of Appointment Date of Retirement Tenure Total tenure[a][b] Parent High Court Date of initial Appointment Remarks Ref..
1 Bira Kishore Ray 26 July 1948 30 October 1951 3 years, 97 days
2 Bachu Jagannadha Das 30 October 1951 3 March 1953 1 year, 125 days Orissa 26 July 1948 Elevated to Supreme Court
3 Lingaraj Panigrahi 4 March 1953 20 March 1956 3 years, 17 days Orissa
4 Ramaswamy Laxman Narasimham 21 March 1956 3 January 1965 8 years, 282 days Orissa Transferred to Patna [241]
5 Khaleel Ahmed 18 January 1965 5 April 1967 2 years, 78 days
6 Satya Bhusan Barman 6 April 1967 30 April 1969 2 years, 25 days Orissa 3 February 1958
7 Gati Krushna Misra 1 May 1969 31 October 1975 6 years, 184 days Orissa 30 January 1962
8 Siba Narain Sankar 1 November 1975 12 October 1977 1 year, 346 days
9 Sukanta Kishore Ray 13 October 1977 5 November 1980 3 years, 24 days Orissa 25 October 1967
10 Ranganath Mishra 6 November 1980
Permanent from
16 January 1981		 14 March 1983 2 years, 58 days 2 years, 129 days Orissa 4 July 1969 ACJ: (6 November 1980 – 15 January 1981)
Elevated to Supreme Court		 [242]
-- Prafulla Kishore Mohanti 14 March 1983 10 August 1983 150 days Orissa 2 January 1974 [243]
11 Dambarudhar Pathak 11 August 1983 28 February 1986 2 years, 202 days
-- B. N. Misra 1 March 1986 30 April 1986 61 days Orissa 5 January 1981 [244]
12 Hari Lal Agrawal 1 May 1986 31 July 1989 3 years, 92 days
-- Radha Charan Pattnaik 1 August 1989 21 February 1990 205 days Orissa 18 September 1981 [245][246]
13 Banwari Lal Hansaria 22 February 1990 13 December 1993 3 years, 295 days Elevated to Supreme Court
14 Girish Thakorlal Nanavati 14 December 1993 Permanent from 31 January 1994 27 September 1994 240 days 288 days Transferred to Karnataka [247]
15 Vallabhdas Aidan Mohta 28 September 1994 25 April 1995 210 days Bombay 27 April 1979
-- G. B. Pattanaik 26 April 1995 18 May 1995 23 days Orissa 1 June 1983 Transferred as 27th CJ of Patna [248]
-- D. P. Mohapatra 19 May 1995 15 February 1996 273 days Orissa 18 November 1983 Transferred as 35th CJ of Allahabad [249]
-- Susanta Chatterjee 16 February 1996 1 August 1996 168 days Calcutta 17 January 1986 [250]
16 Sailendu Nath Phukan 2 August 1996 27 January 1999 2 years, 179 days Elevated to Supreme Court
-- Susanta Chatterjee 28 January 1999 1 April 1999 64 days Calcutta 17 January 1986 Retired as Acting CJ [251]
-- Arijit Pasayat 2 April 1999 20 September 1999 171 days Orissa 20 March 1989 Transferred as 18th CJ of Kerala [252]
-- R. K. Patra 21 September 1999 17 November 1999 58 days Orissa 22 June 1992 [253]
17 Biswanath Agrawal 18 November 1999 18 October 2000 336 days Elevated to Supreme Court
-- R. K. Patra 19 October 2000 16 February 2001 121 days Orissa 22 June 1992 [254]
18 Nyaka Yellapa Hanumanthappa 17 February 2001 24 September 2001 220 days
-- R. K. Patra 25 September 2001 4 December 2001 71 days 250 days Orissa 22 June 1992 [255]
19 Perubhemba Krishna Ayer Balasubramanyan 5 December 2001 9 March 2003 1 year, 95 days Kerala 4 June 1992 Transferred to Jharkhand
20 Sujit Barman Roy 10 March 2003 21 January 2007 3 years, 325 days
21 Ashok Kumar Ganguly 28 January 2007
Permanent from
2 March 2007		 18 May 2008 1 year, 78 days 1 year, 112 days Calcutta 10 January 1994 ACJ: (28 January 2007 – 1 March 2007)
Transferred to Madras		 [256]
-- I. M. Quddusi 19 May 2008 15 July 2008 58 days Allahabad 18 April 1995 [257]
22 Balbir Singh Chauhan 16 July 2008 10 May 2009 299 days Allahabad 5 April 1995 Elevated to Supreme Court
-- I. M. Quddusi 11 May 2009 13 November 2009 187 days Allahabad 18 April 1995 [258]
23 Bilal Nazki 14 November 2009 17 November 2009 4 days
-- I. M. Quddusi 18 November 2009 24 March 2010 127 days 1 year, 7 days[c] Allahabad 18 April 1995
24 Venkate Gopala Gowda 25 March 2010 23 December 2012 2 years, 274 days Elevated to Supreme Court
-- P. K. Mohanty 24 December 2012 26 February 2013 65 days Orissa 7 March 2002 [259]
25 Chokkalingam Nagappan 27 February 2013 18 September 2013 204 days Elevated to Supreme Court
-- P. K. Mohanty 19 September 2013 11 October 2013 23 days Orissa 7 March 2002
26 Adarsh Kumar Goel 12 October 2013 6 July 2014 268 days Punjab & Haryana 2 July 2001 Elevated to Supreme Court
-- P. K. Mohanty 7 July 2014 5 August 2014 30 days Orissa 7 March 2002 [260]
27 Amitava Roy 6 August 2014 26 February 2015 205 days Elevated to Supreme Court
-- P. K. Mohanty 27 February 2015 3 June 2015 97 days Orissa 7 March 2002 [261]
28 Dhirendra Hiralal Waghela 4 June 2015 14 February 2016 256 days Transferred to Bombay
-- P. K. Mohanty 15 February 2016 25 February 2016 11 days 226 days[d] Orissa 7 March 2002 [262]
29 Vineet Saran 26 February 2016 6 August 2018 2 years, 162 days Allahabad 14 February 2002 Elevated to Supreme Court
-- Indrajit Mahanty 7 August 2018 11 August 2018 5 days Orissa 31 March 2006 [263]
30 Kalpesh Satyendra Jhaveri 12 August 2018 4 January 2020 1 year, 146 days
-- Sanju Panda 5 January 2020 26 April 2020 113 days Orissa 1 March 2007 [264]
31 Mohammad Rafiq 27 April 2020 3 January 2021 252 days Transferred to Madhya Pradesh
32 S. Muralidhar 4 January 2021 7 August 2023 2 years, 216 days
33 Subhasis Talapatra 8 August 2023 3 October 2023 57 days Tripura 15 November 2011
-- B. R. Sarangi 4 October 2023 6 February 2024 126 days Orissa 20 June 2013 [265]
34 Chakradhari Sharan Singh 7 February 2024 19 January 2025 348 days
-- Arindam Sinha 20 January 2025 25 March 2025 65 days Calcutta 30 October 2013
35 Harish Tandon 26 March 2025 Incumbent 1 year, 43 days Calcutta 13 April 2010
Close

Patna High Court

The Patna High Court was established on 2 September 1916 under Letters Patent issued by the British Crown and has had 46 Chief Justices excluding Acting Chief Justices.

More information Sr. No., Name ...
Permanent Chief Justices
Sr. No. Name Portrait Date of Appointment Date of Retirement Tenure Parent High Court Date of initial Appointment
1 Edward Maynard Des Champs Chamier 1 March 1916 30 October 1917 1 year, 244 days Allahabad 1910
2 Thomas Fredrick Dawson Miller 31 October 1917 30 March 1928 10 years, 152 days
3 Courtney Terrell 31 March 1928 6 May 1938[RES] 10 years, 37 days Bar --
4 Arthur Trevor Harries 10 October 1938 18 January 1943[e] 4 years, 101 days Allahabad 1934
5 Saiyid Fazl Ali 19 January 1943 14 October 1946[f] 3 years, 269 days
6 Clifford Monmohan Agarwala 9 January 1948 24 January 1950[RES] 2 years, 16 days
7 Herbert Ribton Meredith 25 January 1950 7 April 1950 73 days
8 Pandit Lakshami Kant Jha 8 April 1950 31 May 1952 2 years, 54 days
9 David Ezra Reuben 1 June 1952 2 September 1953 1 year, 94 days
10 Syed Jafar Imam 3 September 1953 9 January 1955[‡] 1 year, 129 days
11 Sudhansu Kumar Das 10 January 1955 29 April 1956[‡] 1 year, 111 days
12 Vaidyanathier Ramaswami 30 April 1956 3 January 1965[‡] 8 years, 249 days
13 Ramaswamy Laxman Narasimham 4 January 1965[g] 2 August 1968 3 years, 212 days Orissa 26 July 1948
14 Satish Chandra Mishra 9 November 1968 4 September 1970 1 year, 300 days
15 Ujjal Narayan Sinha 5 September 1970 28 September 1972 2 years, 24 days
16 Nand Lall Untwalia 29 September 1972 2 October 1974[‡] 2 years, 4 days
17 Shyam Nandan Prasad Singh 3 October 1974 30 April 1976 1 year, 211 days
18 Krishna Ballabh Narayan Singh 19 July 1976 12 March 1982[h] 5 years, 237 days
19 Surjit Singh Sandhawalia 29 November 1983[i] 27 July 1987 3 years, 241 days Punjab & Haryana 28 May 1968
20 Bhagwati Prasad Jha 2 January 1988 2 January 1988 1 day
21 Dipak Kumar Sen 1 May 1988 1 May 1989 1 year, 1 day Calcutta 5 March 1973
22 Shushil Kumar Jha 19 October 1989 23 October 1989[j] 5 days
23 Gangadhar Ganesh Sohani 24 October 1989[k] 17 December 1990 1 year, 55 days Madhya Pradesh 2 June 1973
24 Bimal Chandra Basak 18 March 1991 21 January 1994 2 years, 310 days Calcutta 10 June 1974
25 Krishnaswami Sundara Paripoornan 24 January 1994 10 June 1994[‡] 141 days Kerala 23 December 1982
26 Konduswami Venkataswamy 19 September 1994 5 March 1995[‡] 168 days
27 Gopal Ballav Pattanaik Gopal Ballav Pattanaik 19 May 1995 10 September 1995[‡] 115 days Orissa 1 June 1983
28 Devinder Pratap Wadhwa 29 September 1995 20 March 1997[‡] 1 year, 173 days
29 Brij Mohan Lal 9 July 1997 6 October 1999 2 years, 90 days Madhya Pradesh 14 May 1984
30 Ravi Swaroop Dhavan 25 January 2000 22 July 2004 4 years, 180 days Allahabad 9 January 1986
31 Jitendrakumar Nanalal Bhatt 18 July 2005 16 October 2007 2 years, 91 days
32 Rajesh Balia 5 January 2008 3 March 2008 59 days
33 Rajendra Mal Lodha Rajendra Mal Lodha 13 May 2008 16 December 2008[‡] 218 days
34 Jacob Benjamin Koshy 16 March 2009 12 May 2009 58 days Kerala 17 January 1996
35 Prafulla Kumar Mishra 12 August 2009 16 September 2009 36 days Orissa
36 Dipak Misra Dipak Misra 23 December 2009 23 May 2010[l] 152 days Orissa 17 January 1996
37 Rekha Manharlal Doshit 21 June 2010 12 December 2014 4 years, 175 days
38 Lingala Narasimha Reddy 2 January 2015 31 July 2015 211 days Andhra Pradesh 10 September 2001
39 Iqbal Ahmed Ansari 29 July 2016 28 October 2016 92 days
40 Rajendra Menon 15 March 2017 8 August 2018[l] 1 year, 147 days Madhya Pradesh 1 April 2002
41 Mukesh Rasikbhai Shah 12 August 2018 1 November 2018[‡] 82 days
42 Amreshwar Pratap Sahi 17 November 2018 10 November 2019[h] 359 days Allahabad 24 September 2004
43 Sanjay Karol 11 November 2019[m] 5 February 2023[‡] 3 years, 87 days
44 Krishnan Vinod Chandran 29 March 2023 15 January 2025[‡] 1 year, 293 days Kerala 8 November 2011
45 Vipul Manubhai Pancholi 21 July 2025 28 August 2025[‡] 39 days
46 Pavankumar Bhimappa Bajanthri 21 September 2025 22 October 2025 32 days
47 Sangam Kumar Sahoo 7 January 2026 Incumbent 121 days Orissa 2 July 2014
Close

Website of Bihar State Legal Services Authority contains list of its former patron in chiefs who always had been the chief justice of Patna High Court (whether acting or permanent). Thus the list contained in this website would serve as primary reference for acting chief justices after 1999.[266]

More information Name, From ...
Acting Chief Justices
Name From To Tenure Appointed due to Parent High Court Date of initial Appointment Ref..
Fazl Ali 7 May 1938 9 October 1938 156 days Resignation of CJ Courtney Terrell [267]
Clifford Monmohan Agarwala 15 October 1946 8 January 1948[§] 1 year, 86 days Retirement of CJ Fazl Ali [268]
Satish Chandra Mishra 3 August 1968 8 November 1968[§] 98 days Retirement of CJ R. L. Narasimham [269]
K. B. N. Singh 1 May 1976 18 July 1976[§] 79 days Retirement of CJ S. N. P. Singh [270]
Syed Sarwar Ali 13 March 1982 28 November 1983 1 year, 261 days Transfer of CJ K. B. N. Singh to Madras [271]
Bhagwati Prasad Jha 28 July 1987 1 January 1988[§] 158 days Retirement of CJ S. S. Sandhawalia [272]
Shushil Kumar Jha 3 January 1988 30 April 1988 119 days Retirement of CJ B. P. Jha [211]
2 May 1989 18 October 1989[§] 170 days Retirement of CJ D. K. Sen
Nagendra Prasad Singh 18 December 1990 3 February 1991[+][n] 48 days Retirement of CJ G. G. Sohani [273]
B. N. Agrawal 7 October 1999 17 November 1999[+][o] 42 days Retirement of CJ B. M. Lal [274]
B. P. Singh 18 November 1999 24 January 2000 68 days Elevation of ACJ B. N. Agrawal as 17th CJ of Orissa [275]
Nagendra Rai 22 July 2004 17 July 2005 361 days Retirement of CJ R. S. Dhavan
Narayan Roy 16 October 2007 4 January 2008[+][p] 81 days Retirement of CJ J. N. Bhatt
C. K. Prasad 4 March 2008 12 May 2008 70 days Retirement of CJ Rajesh Balia [276]
17 December 2008 15 March 2009[+][q] 89 days Elevation of CJ R. M. Lodha to SCI
S. K. Singh 13 May 2009 11 August 2009 91 days Retirement of CJ J. B. Koshy
17 September 2009 22 December 2009 97 days Retirement of CJ P. K. Mishra
24 May 2010 20 June 2010 28 days Transfer of CJ Dipak Misra to Delhi
Iqbal Ahmed Ansari 13 December 2014 1 January 2015 20 days Retirement of CJ R. M. Doshit
1 August 2015 28 July 2016[§] 363 days Retirement of CJ L. N. Reddy
Hemant Gupta 29 October 2016 14 March 2017[+][r] 137 days Retirement of CJ I. A. Ansari Punjab & Haryana 2 July 2002
Ravi Ranjan 9 August 2018 11 August 2018 3 days Transfer of CJ Rajendra Menon to Delhi
2 November 2018 16 November 2018 15 days Elevation of CJ M. R. Shah to SCI
C. S. Singh 6 February 2023 28 March 2023 51 days Elevation of CJ Sanjay Karol to SCI
Ashutosh Kumar 16 January 2025 20 July 2025[+][s] 186 days Elevation of CJ K. V. Chandran to SCI
P. B. Bajanthri 29 August 2025 20 September 2025[§] 23 days Elevation of CJ V. M. Pancholi to SCI
Sudhir Singh 23 October 2025 6 January 2026 76 days Retirement of CJ P. B. Bajanthri
Close
  1. [a]
    Total tenure includes : (a) continuous successive tenures as Acting Chief Justice and Chief Justice (b) broken tenures as Acting Chief Justice and Chief Justice (c) broken tenures as Acting Chief Justice
  2. [b]
    Total tenure is mentioned at the time when the person served for last time Example: A judge served as ACJ in 2007 then in 2008 and again as CJ in 2009 then total tenure would be mentioned when he served for last time in 2009
  3. [c]
    Previously served as Acting Chief Justice in 2009
  4. [d]
    Previously served as Acting Chief Justice 3 times; in 2014, 2015, 2016,
  5. [e]
    Transferred to Lahore High Court
  6. [f]
    Elevated to Federal Court of India on 9 June 1947 after retiring as High Court Judge on 14 October 1946
  7. [g]
    Previously serving as CJ of Orissa High Court before being transferred as CJ of Patna
  8. [h]
    Transferred to Madras High Court
  9. [i]
    Previously serving as CJ of Punjab & Haryana High Court before being transferred as CJ of Patna
  10. [j]
    Transferred to Madhya Pradesh High Court
  11. [k]
    Previously serving as CJ of Madhya Pradesh High Court before being transferred as CJ of Patna
  12. [l]
    Transferred to Delhi High Court
  13. [m]
    Previously serving as CJ of Tripura High Court before being transferred as CJ of Patna
  14. [n]
    Elevated as Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court
  15. [o]
    Elevated as Chief Justice of Orissa High Court
  16. [p]
    Elevated as Chief Justice of Rajasthan High Court
  17. [q]
    Elevated as Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court
  18. [r]
    Elevated as Chief Justice of Madhya Pradesh High Court
  19. [s]
    Elevated as Chief Justice of Gauhati High Court

Punjab and Haryana High Court

The Punjab and Haryana High Court was established on 15 August 1947 under the Punjab High Court Ordinance, 1947 and has had 36 Chief Justices excluding Acting Chief Justices.[277]

More information Sr. No., Name ...
Sr. No. Name Portrait Date of Appointment Date of Retirement Tenure Total tenure[a][b] Parent High Court Date of initial Appointment Remarks Ref..
1 Ram Lall 15 August 1947 18 January 1949 1 year, 157 days Lahore[ζ] 1938
2 Sudhi Ranjan Das Sudhi Ranjan Das 19 January 1949 20 January 1950 1 year, 2 days Calcutta 1 December 1942 Elevated to Supreme Court
3 Eric Weston 21 January 1950 8 December 1952 2 years, 323 days Bombay 1943
4 Amar Nath Bhandari 8 December 1952 18 November 1959 6 years, 346 days Lahore[ζ] 1944
5 Gopal Das Khosla 19 November 1959 14 December 1961 2 years, 26 days Lahore[ζ] 1 November 1944
6 Donald Falshaw 15 December 1961 29 May 1966 4 years, 166 days Lahore[ζ] 26 September 1946
7 Mehar Singh 30 May 1966 14 August 1970 4 years, 77 days Punjab & Haryana 24 December 1953
8 Harbans Singh 15 August 1970 8 April 1974 3 years, 237 days Punjab & Haryana 11 August 1958
9 Daya Krishan Mahajan 10 April 1974 10 May 1974 31 days Punjab & Haryana 11 May 1959
10 Ranjit Singh Narula 11 May 1974 31 October 1977 3 years, 174 days Punjab & Haryana 1 April 1965
11 Anand Dev Koshal 1 November 1977 16 July 1978 258 days Punjab & Haryana 28 May 1968 Elevated to Supreme Court
12 Surjit Singh Sandhawalia 17 July 1978 28 November 1983 5 years, 135 days Punjab & Haryana Transferred to Patna
13 Prem Chand Jain 28 November 1983
Permanent from
1 August 1985		 17 August 1986 1 year, 17 days 2 years, 263 days Punjab & Haryana 24 June 1968 ACJ: (28 November 1983 – 31 July 1985)
Transferred to Karnataka		 [278]
14 Hariday Nath Seth 18 August 1986 14 October 1987 1 year, 58 days Allahabad 7 July 1969
15 Debi Singh Tewatia 15 October 1987 29 October 1987 15 days Punjab & Haryana 6 February 1970 Transferred to Calcutta
-- R. N. Mittal 30 October 1987 11 November 1987 13 days Punjab & Haryana 24 February 1972
16 Veeraswami Ramaswami 12 November 1987 6 October 1989 1 year, 329 days Elevated to Supreme Court
17 Shanti Sarup Dewan 6 October 1989
Permanent from
24 October 1989		 31 December 1989 69 days 87 days Punjab & Haryana 14 December 1977 ACJ: (6 October 1989 – 23 October 1989)
18 Jitendra Vir Gupta 1 January 1990
Permanent from
9 July 1990		 1 May 1991 297 days 1 year, 121 days Punjab & Haryana 19 February 1979 ACJ: (1 January 1990 – 8 July 1990)
-- G. C. Mittal 2 May 1991 4 August 1991 95 days Punjab & Haryana 19 February 1979 Transferred as 16th CJ of Delhi
-- I. S. Tiwana 5 August 1991 19 September 1991 46 days Punjab & Haryana 11 June 1979
19 Bipin Chandra Verma 19 September 1991 2 May 1992 227 days Madhya Pradesh 21 August 1978
20 Mandagadde Rama Jois 3 May 1992 31 August 1992 121 days
-- S. S. Sodhi 1 September 1992 12 November 1992 73 days Punjab & Haryana 18 June 1982
21 Sudarshan Dayal Aggarwal 13 November 1992 14 January 1994 1 year, 63 days Allahabad 17 November 1977
22 Sudhakar Panditrao Kurdukar 16 January 1994 27 March 1996 2 years, 72 days Bombay 25 April 1978 Elevated to Supreme Court
-- R. P. Sethi 27 March 1996 27 June 1996 93 days Transferred as 18th CJ of Karnataka
-- M. S. Liberhan 27 June 1996 30 July 1996 34 days Punjab & Haryana 11 February 1987
23 Kumaran Sreedharan 30 July 1996 18 October 1997 1 year, 81 days Kerala 10 September 1985 Transferred to Gujarat
-- Amarjeet Chaudhary 19 October 1997 7 November 1997 20 days Punjab & Haryana 27 June 1988
24 Arun B. Saharya 7 November 1997 14 September 2002 4 years, 312 days
-- G. S. Singhvi 15 September 2002 14 October 2002 30 days
25 Binod Kumar Roy 14 October 2002 21 February 2005 2 years, 131 days Transferred to Gauhati
-- G. S. Singhvi 21 February 2005 25 February 2005 5 days 35 days Transferred as Judge to Gujarat
-- H. S. Bedi 26 February 2005 11 March 2005 14 days Punjab & Haryana 15 March 1991
26 Devinder Kumar Jain 11 March 2005 9 April 2006 1 year, 30 days Elevated to Supreme Court
-- H. S. Bedi 10 April 2006 2 October 2006 176 days 190 days Punjab & Haryana 15 March 1991 Transferred as 36th CJ of Bombay
-- S. S. Nijjar 3 October 2006 28 November 2006 57 days Punjab & Haryana 8 April 1996
27 Vijender Jain 28 November 2006 1 August 2008 1 year, 248 days
-- J. S. Khehar 2 August 2008 10 August 2008 9 days Punjab & Haryana 8 February 1999
28 Tirath Singh Thakur Tirath Singh Thakur 11 August 2008 16 November 2009 1 year, 98 days Elevated to Supreme Court
-- J. S. Khehar 17 November 2009 28 November 2009 12 days 21 days Punjab & Haryana 8 February 1999 Transferred as 7th CJ of Uttarakhand
-- M. S. Gill 29 November 2009 5 December 2009 7 days Punjab & Haryana 14 May 1999
29 Mukul Mudgal 5 December 2009 3 January 2011 1 year, 30 days
30 Ranjan Gogoi Ranjan Gogoi 4 January 2011
Permanent from
12 February 2011		 22 April 2012 1 year, 71 days 1 year, 110 days ACJ: (4 January 2011 – 11 February 2011)
Elevated to Supreme Court
-- M. M. Kumar 23 April 2012 8 June 2012 47 days Punjab & Haryana 2 July 2001 Transferred as 30th CJ of Jammu and Kashmir
-- Jasbir Singh 9 June 2012 23 September 2012 107 days Punjab & Haryana
31 Arjan Kumar Sikri 23 September 2012 11 April 2013 201 days Elevated to Supreme Court
-- Jasbir Singh 12 April 2013 31 May 2013 50 days Punjab & Haryana 2 July 2001
32 Sanjay Kishan Kaul 1 June 2013 25 July 2014 1 year, 55 days Transferred to Madras
-- Ashutosh Mohunta 26 July 2014 15 December 2014 143 days Punjab & Haryana 2 July 2001
33 Shiavax Jal Vazifdar 15 December 2014
Permanent from
7 August 2016		 3 May 2018 1 year, 270 days 3 years, 140 days Bombay 22 January 2001 ACJ: (15 December 2014 – 6 August 2016)
-- A. K. Mittal 4 May 2018 2 June 2018 30 days Punjab & Haryana 9 January 2004
34 Krishna Murari 2 June 2018 22 September 2019 1 year, 113 days Allahabad 7 January 2004 Elevated to Supreme Court
-- Rajeev Sharma 23 September 2019 5 October 2019 13 days [279]
35 Ravi Shankar Jha 6 October 2019 13 October 2023 4 years, 8 days Madhya Pradesh 18 October 2005
-- Ritu Bahri 14 October 2023 3 February 2024 112 days Punjab & Haryana 16 August 2010 Transferred as 13th CJ of Uttarakhand
-- G. S. Sandhawalia 4 February 2024 8 July 2024 156 days Punjab & Haryana 30 September 2011
36 Sheel Nagu 9 July 2024 Incumbent 1 year, 303 days Madhya Pradesh 27 May 2011
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Rajasthan High Court

The Rajasthan High Court was established on 21 June 1949 under the Rajasthan High Court Ordinance, 1949 and has had 43 Chief Justices excluding Acting Chief Justices.

More information Sr. No., Name ...
Permanent Chief Justices
Sr. No. Name Portrait Date of Appointment Date of Retirement Tenure Parent High Court Date of Appointment
1 Kamalkanta Verma 29 August 1949 24 January 1950 149 days Allahabad 1937
2 Kailas Nath Wanchoo Kailas Nath Wanchoo 2 January 1951 10 August 1958[‡] 7 years, 221 days Allahabad 17 February 1947
3 Sarju Prasad 28 February 1959[c] 10 October 1961 2 years, 225 days
4 Jawan Singh Ranawat 11 October 1961 31 May 1963 1 year, 233 days
5 Durga Shakti Dave 1 June 1963 17 December 1968 5 years, 200 days
6 Daulat Mal Bhandari 18 December 1968 15 December 1969 363 days
7 Jagat Narayan 16 December 1969 13 February 1973 3 years, 60 days
8 Bhagwati Prasad Beri 14 February 1973 16 February 1975 2 years, 3 days
9 Prakash Narayan Shinghal 17 February 1975 5 November 1975[‡] 262 days
10 Vedpal Tyagi 6 November 1975 27 December 1977 2 years, 52 days
11 Closepet Honniah 27 April 1978 22 September 1978 149 days
12 Chand Mal Lodha 12 March 1979[c] 9 July 1980 1 year, 120 days
13 Kalyan Dutt Sharma 7 January 1981 22 October 1983 2 years, 289 days
14 Pradyot Kumar Banerjee 23 October 1983 30 September 1985 1 year, 343 days Calcutta 31 July 1968
15 Dwarka Prasad Gupta 12 April 1986 31 July 1986 111 days
16 Jagdish Sharan Verma Jagdish Sharan Verma 1 September 1986[d] 22 May 1989[‡] 2 years, 264 days Madhya Pradesh 12 September 1972
17 Krishna Chandra Agarwal 15 April 1990 7 April 1994[e] 3 years, 358 days Allahabad 6 August 1973
18 Gokal Chand Mittal 12 April 1994[f] 3 March 1995 326 days Punjab & Haryana 19 February 1979
19 Amratlal Parmananddas Ravani 4 April 1995 10 September 1996 1 year, 160 days
20 Mukul Gopal Mukherjee 19 September 1996 24 December 1997 1 year, 97 days Calcutta 9 January 1984
21 Shivaraj Virupanna Patil 22 January 1999 14 March 2000[‡] 1 year, 53 days
22 Arunachalam R. Lakshmanan 29 May 2000 25 November 2001[g] 1 year, 181 days
23 Arun Kumar 2 December 2001 2 October 2002[‡] 305 days
24 Anil Dev Singh 24 December 2002 22 October 2004 1 year, 304 days
25 Sachchidanand Jha 12 October 2005[h] 15 June 2007 1 year, 247 days
26 Jagdish Madhurlal Panchal 16 September 2007 11 November 2007[‡] 57 days
27 Narayan Roy 5 January 2008 31 January 2009 1 year, 27 days
28 Deepak Verma 6 March 2009 10 May 2009[‡] 69 days Madhya Pradesh 15 December 1994
29 Jagadish Bhalla 10 August 2009[i] 31 October 2010 1 year, 83 days Allahabad 5 April 1995
30 Arun Kumar Mishra 26 November 2010 13 December 2012[e] 2 years, 18 days Madhya Pradesh 25 October 1999
31 Amitava Roy 2 January 2013 5 August 2014[j] 1 year, 216 days
32 Sunil Ambwani 24 March 2015 22 August 2015 152 days Allahabad 24 April 2001
33 Satish Kumar Mittal 5 March 2016 14 April 2016 41 days Punjab & Haryana 2 July 2002
34 Navin Sinha 14 May 2016[k] 16 February 2017[‡] 279 days
35 Pradeep Nandrajog 2 April 2017 6 April 2019[l] 2 years, 5 days
36 Shripathi Ravindra Bhat 5 May 2019 23 September 2019[‡] 142 days
37 Indrajit Mahanty 6 October 2019 11 October 2021[m] 2 years, 6 days Orissa 31 March 2006
38 Akil Abdulhamid Kureshi 12 October 2021[n] 6 March 2022 146 days
39 Sambhaji Shiwaji Shinde 21 June 2022 1 August 2022 42 days Bombay 17 March 2008
40 Pankaj Mithal 14 October 2022[h] 5 February 2023[‡] 115 days Allahabad 7 July 2006
41 Augustine George Masih 30 May 2023 8 November 2023[‡] 163 days Punjab & Haryana 10 July 2008
42 Manindra Mohan Shrivastava 6 February 2024 20 July 2025[o] 1 year, 165 days
43 Kalpathi Rajendran Shriram 21 July 2025[p] 27 September 2025 69 days Bombay 21 June 2013
Acting Sanjeev Prakash Sharma 28 September 2025 Incumbent 222 days
Close

Website of Rajasthan State Legal Services Authority contains list of its former patron in chiefs who always had been the chief justice of Rajasthan High Court (whether acting or permanent). Thus the list contained in this website would serve as primary reference for acting chief justices after 1997.[280]

More information Name, From ...
Acting Chief Justices
Name From To Tenure Appointed due to Parent High Court Date of initial Appointment
Nawal Kishore[281] 25 January 1950 1 January 1951 342 days Retirement of CJ K. K. Verma
Kanwar Lal Bapna[282] 11 August 1958 27 February 1959 201 days Elevation of CJ K. N. Wanchoo to SCI
A. P. Sen[283] 28 December 1977 28 February 1978[+][q] 63 days Retirement of CJ Vedpal Tyagi Madhya Pradesh 7 November 1967
Mohan Lal Joshi[284] 1 March 1978 26 April 1978 57 days Elevation of ACJ A. P. Sen as 7th CJ of Madhya Pradesh
23 September 1978 11 March 1979 170 days Retirement of CJ C. Honniah
K. D. Sharma[285] 10 July 1980 6 January 1981[§] 181 days Retirement of CJ C. M. Lodha
D. P. Gupta[286] 1 October 1985 11 April 1986[§] 193 days Retirement of CJ P. K. Banerjee
G. M. Lodha[287] 1 August 1986 31 August 1986 31 days Retirement of CJ D. P. Gupta
M. C. Jain[288] 23 May 1989 14 April 1990 327 days Elevation of CJ J. S. Verma to SCI
Maheshwari Prasad Singh 25 December 1997 9 April 1998 107 days Retirement of CJ M. G. Mukherjee Allahabad 31 July 1987
N. L. Tibrewal 10 April 1998 25 May 1998 46 days Retirement of ACJ M. P. Singh
16 January 1999 17 January 1999 2 days Reverted from position of Acting Governor to ACJ
V. S. Kokje 25 May 1998 15 January 1999 236 days Appointment of ACJ N. L. Tibrewal as Acting Governor of Rajasthan Madhya Pradesh 28 July 1990
17 January 1999 21 January 1999 5 days Retirement of ACJ N. L. Tibrewal
15 March 2000 28 May 2000 75 days Elevation of CJ S. V. Patil to SCI
Megh Raj Calla 26 November 2001 1 December 2001 6 days Transfer of CJ A. R. Lakshmanan to Undivided Andhra Pradesh
3 October 2002 23 December 2002 82 days Elevation of CJ Arun Kumar to SCI
Y. R. Meena 23 October 2004 11 October 2005 354 days Retirement of CJ Anil Dev Singh
Rajesh Balia 16 June 2007 15 July 2007 30 days Retirement of CJ Sachchidanand Jha
12 November 2007 4 January 2008[+][r] 54 days Elevation of CJ J. M. Panchal to SCI
J. M. Panchal 16 July 2007 15 September 2007[§] 57 days Transferred as ACJ
Rattan Chand Gandhi 1 February 2009 5 March 2009 33 days Retirement of CJ Narayan Roy
11 May 2009 9 August 2009 91 days Elevation of CJ Deepak Verma to SCI
A. K. Mishra 1 November 2010 25 November 2010[§] 25 days Retirement of CJ Jagadish Bhalla Madhya Pradesh 25 October 1999
N. K. Jain 14 December 2012 2 January 2013 20 days Transfer of CJ A. K. Mishra to Calcutta
Sunil Ambwani 6 August 2014 23 March 2015[§] 230 days Transfer of CJ Amitava Roy to Orissa Allahabad 24 April 2001
Ajit Singh 23 August 2015 4 March 2016[+][s] 196 days Retirement of CJ Sunil Ambwani Madhya Pradesh 1 April 2002
Ajay Rastogi 15 April 2016 13 May 2016 29 days Retirement of CJ S. K. Mittal
K. S. Jhaveri 17 February 2017 1 April 2017 44 days Elevation of CJ Navin Sinha to SCI
Mohammad Rafiq 7 April 2019 4 May 2019 28 days Transfer of CJ Pradeep Nandrajog to Bombay
23 September 2019 5 October 2019 13 days Elevation of CJ S. R. Bhat to SCI
M. M. Shrivastava 7 March 2022 20 June 2022 106 days Retirement of CJ A. A. Kureshi
2 August 2022 13 October 2022 47 days Retirement of CJ S. S. Shinde
6 February 2023 29 May 2023 113 days Elevation of CJ Pankaj Mithal to SCI
9 November 2023 5 February 2024[§] 89 days Elevation of CJ A. G. Masih to SCI
Close
  1. [a]
    Total tenure includes : (a) continuous successive tenures as Acting Chief Justice and Chief Justice (b) broken tenures as Acting Chief Justice and Chief Justice (c) broken tenures as Acting Chief Justice
  2. [b]
    Total tenure is mentioned at the time when the person served for last time Example: A judge served as ACJ in 2007 then in 2008 and again as CJ in 2009 then total tenure would be mentioned when he served for last time in 2009
  3. [c]
    Previously serving as CJ of Gauhati High Court before being transferred as CJ of Rajasthan
  4. [d]
    Previously serving as CJ of Madhya Pradesh High Court before being transferred as CJ of Rajasthan
  5. [e]
    Transferred to Calcutta High Court
  6. [f]
    Previously serving as CJ of Delhi High Court before being transferred as CJ of Rajasthan
  7. [g]
    Transferred to Undivided Andhra Pradesh High Court
  8. [h]
    Previously serving as CJ of Jammu & Kashmir High Court before being transferred as CJ of Rajasthan
  9. [i]
    Previously serving as CJ of Himachal Pradesh High Court before being transferred as CJ of Rajasthan
  10. [j]
    Transferred to Orissa High Court
  11. [k]
    Previously serving as CJ of Chhattisgarh High Court before being transferred as CJ of Rajasthan
  12. [l]
    Transferred to Bombay High Court
  13. [m]
    Transferred to Tripura High Court
  14. [n]
    Previously serving as CJ of Tripura High Court before being transferred as CJ of Rajasthan
  15. [o]
    Transferred to Madras High Court
  16. [p]
    Previously serving as CJ of Madras High Court before being transferred as CJ of Rajasthan
  17. [q]
    Elevated as Chief Justice of Madhya Pradesh High Court
  18. [r]
    Elevated as Chief Justice of Patna High Court
  19. [s]
    Elevated as Chief Justice of Gauhati High Court

Sikkim High Court

The Sikkim High Court was established on 16 May 1975 under the 36th Amendment to the Indian Constitution and has had 24 Chief Justices excluding Acting Chief Justices.

More information Sr. No., Name ...
Permanent Chief Justices
Sr. No. Name Portrait Date of Appointment Date of Retirement Tenure Parent High Court Date of initial Appointment
1 Manmohan Singh Gujral 7 May 1976 14 March 1983 6 years, 312 days Punjab & Haryana 21 August 1969
2 Mohan Lall Shrimal 17 December 1983 3 January 1985 1 year, 18 days Rajasthan
3 Jugal Kishore Mohanty 21 January 1986 4 January 1989 2 years, 350 days Orissa 12 July 1978
4 Braja Nath Misra 20 January 1990 8 November 1992 2 years, 294 days Orissa 5 January 1981
5 Surendra Nath Bhargava 20 January 1993 10 February 1996 3 years, 22 days
6 Krishna Murari Agarwal 15 February 1996 26 October 1996 255 days Madhya Pradesh 14 May 1984
7 Kanniappa Arumuga Thanikkachallam 27 August 1997 26 September 1997 31 days
8 Repusudan Dayal 3 February 1999 17 May 2003 4 years, 104 days Sikkim 10 May 1984
9 Radha Krishna Patra 9 July 2003 23 November 2004 1 year, 138 days Orissa 22 June 1992
10 Binod Kumar Roy 30 September 2005[a] 26 December 2006 1 year, 88 days Patna
11 Ajoy Nath Ray 27 January 2007[b] 30 October 2008 1 year, 278 days Calcutta 6 August 1990
12 Aftab Hussain Saikia 7 March 2009 7 April 2010[c] 1 year, 32 days Gauhati
13 Barin Ghosh 13 April 2010[d] 5 August 2010[e] 115 days Calcutta 14 July 1995
14 Paul Daniel Dinakaran Premkumar 9 August 2010[f] 29 July 2011[RES] 355 days
15 Permod Kohli 12 December 2011 28 February 2013 1 year, 79 days
16 Pius Chakkalayil Kuriakose 28 March 2013 1 October 2013 188 days Kerala 9 September 2002
17 Narendra Kumar Jain 7 January 2014 7 October 2014 274 days
18 Sunil Kumar Sinha 30 March 2015 6 July 2016 1 year, 99 days
19 Satish Kumar Agnihotri 22 September 2016 30 June 2018 1 year, 282 days
20 Vijay Kumar Bist 30 October 2018 16 September 2019 322 days
21 Arup Kumar Goswami 15 October 2019 5 January 2021[g] 1 year, 83 days
22 Jitendra Kumar Maheshwari 6 January 2021[h] 30 August 2021[‡] 237 days Madhya Pradesh 25 November 2005
23 Biswanath Somadder 12 October 2021[i] 14 December 2025 4 years, 64 days Calcutta 22 June 2006
24 Muhamed Mustaque Ayumantakath 4 January 2026 Incumbent 124 days Kerala 23 January 2014
Close
More information Name, From ...
Acting Chief Justices
Name From To Tenure Appointed due to Parent High Court Date of initial Appointment Ref..
Rajinder Sachar 16 May 1975 6 May 1976 357 days Creation of New HC [289]
A. M. Bhattacharjee 14 March 1983 16 December 1983 278 days Retirement of CJ M. S. Gujral Sikkim 16 June 1976 [78]
4 January 1985 20 January 1986 1 year, 17 days Retirement of CJ M. L. Shrimal
Repusudan Dayal 5 January 1989 19 January 1990 1 year, 15 days Retirement of CJ J. K. Mohanty Sikkim 10 May 1984
9 November 1992 19 January 1993 72 days Retirement of CJ B. N. Misra
Malay Sengupta 27 October 1996 26 August 1997 304 days Retirement of CJ K. M. Agarwal Calcutta 27 September 1995
27 September 1997 26 December 1997 91 days Retirement of CJ K. A. Thanikkachallam
Anup Deb 27 December 1997 2 February 1999 1 year, 38 days Transferred as ACJ Sikkim 16 December 1994 [290]
Nongthomban Surajmani Singh 18 May 2003 8 July 2003 52 days Retirement of CJ Repusudan Dayal [291]
24 November 2004 29 September 2005 310 days Retirement of CJ R. K. Patra
27 December 2006 26 January 2007 31 days Retirement of CJ B. K. Roy
Ananda Prakash Subba 31 October 2008 6 March 2009 127 days Retirement of CJ A. N. Ray Sikkim 4 October 2004 [292]
Sonam Phinsto Wangdi 30 July 2011 11 December 2011 135 days Resignation of CJ P. D. Dinakaran Sikkim 23 June 2009 [293]
1 March 2013 27 March 2013 27 days Retirement of CJ Permod Kohli
N. K. Jain 2 October 2013 6 January 2014[§] 97 days Retirement of CJ P. C. Kuriakose
S. K. Sinha 8 October 2014 29 March 2015[§] 173 days Retirement of CJ N. K. Jain
S. K. Agnihotri 7 July 2016 21 September 2016[§] 77 days Retirement of CJ S. K. Sinha
M. M. Rai 1 July 2018 29 October 2018 121 days Retirement of CJ S. K. Agnihotri Sikkim 15 April 2015
17 September 2019 14 October 2019 28 days Retirement of CJ V. K. Bist
1 September 2021 11 October 2021 41 days Elevation of CJ J. K. Maheshwari to SCI
15 December 2025 3 January 2026 20 days Retirement of CJ Biswanath Somadder
Close
  1. [a]
    Previously serving as CJ of Gauhati High Court before being transferred as CJ of Sikkim
  2. [b]
    Previously serving as CJ of Allahabad High Court before being transferred as CJ of Sikkim
  3. [c]
    Transferred to Jammu and Kashmir High Court
  4. [d]
    Previously serving as CJ of Jammu & Kashmir High Court before being transferred as CJ of Sikkim
  5. [e]
    Transferred to Uttarakhand High Court
  6. [f]
    Previously serving as CJ of Karnataka High Court before being transferred as CJ of Sikkim
  7. [g]
    Transferred to Andhra Pradesh High Court
  8. [h]
    Previously serving as CJ of Andhra Pradesh High Court before being transferred as CJ of Sikkim
  9. [i]
    Previously serving as CJ of Meghalaya High Court before being transferred as CJ of Sikkim

Telangana High Court

The Telangana High Court was established on 1 January 2019 under Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014 and has had 7 Chief Justices excluding Acting Chief Justices.

More information Sr. No., Name ...
Sr. No. Name Portrait Date of Appointment Date of Retirement Tenure Total tenure[a][b] Parent High Court Date of initial Appointment Remarks Ref..
1 Thottathil Bhaskaran Nair Radhakrishnan 1 January 2019 2 April 2019 92 days Kerala 14 October 2004 Transferred to Calcutta
2 Raghvendra Singh Chauhan 3 April 2019
Permanent from
22 June 2019		 6 January 2021 1 year, 199 days 1 year, 279 days ACJ: (3 April 2019 – 21 June 2019)
Transferred to Uttarakhand		 [294]
3 Hima Kohli 7 January 2021 30 August 2021 236 days Elevated to Supreme Court
-- M. S. R. Rao 31 August 2021 10 October 2021 41 days Telangana 29 June 2012 Transferred as Judge to Punjab & Haryana [154]
4 Satish Chandra Sharma 11 October 2021 27 June 2022 260 days Madhya Pradesh 18 January 2008 Transferred to Delhi
5 Ujjal Bhuyan 28 June 2022 13 July 2023 1 year, 16 days Elevated to Supreme Court
-- P. N. Rao 14 July 2023 14 July 2023 1 day Telangana 12 April 2013 Retired as Acting CJ [295]
-- A. K. Shavili 15 July 2023 23 July 2023 9 days Telangana 21 September 2017 [296]
6 Alok Aradhe 23 July 2023 20 January 2025 1 year, 182 days Madhya Pradesh 29 December 2009 Transferred to Bombay
-- Sujoy Paul 21 January 2025 17 July 2025 178 days Madhya Pradesh 27 May 2011 Transferred as Judge to Calcutta
-- P. S. Koshy 18 July 2025 19 July 2025 2 days
7 Aparesh Kumar Singh 19 July 2025 Incumbent 293 days 24 January 2012
Close

Tripura High Court

The Tripura High Court was established on 26 March 2013 under the North-Eastern Areas (Reorganisation) and Other Related Laws (Amendment) Act, 2012 and has had 9 Chief Justices excluding Acting Chief Justices.

More information Sr. No., Name ...
Sr. No. Name Portrait Date of Appointment Date of Retirement Tenure Total tenure[a][b] Parent High Court Date of initial Appointment Remarks Ref..
1 Deepak Gupta 23 March 2013 15 May 2016 3 years, 54 days Himachal Pradesh Transferred to Chhattisgarh
2 Tinilanthang Vaiphei 16 May 2016
Permanent from
21 September 2016		 28 February 2018 1 year, 161 days 1 year, 289 days Gauhati ACJ: (16 May 2016 – 20 September 2016)
3 Ajay Rastogi 1 March 2018 2 November 2018 247 days Rajasthan Elevated to Supreme Court
-- Subhasis Talapatra 2 November 2018 13 November 2018 12 days Gauhati [124]
4 Sanjay Karol 14 November 2018 10 November 2019 362 days Himachal Pradesh Transferred to Patna
-- Subhasis Talapatra 11 November 2019 15 November 2019 5 days 17 days Gauhati
5 Akil Abdulhamid Kureshi 16 November 2019 11 October 2021 1 year, 330 days Gujarat Transferred to Rajasthan
6 Indrajit Mahanty 12 October 2021 10 November 2022 1 year, 30 days Orissa 31 March 2006
-- T. A. Goud 11 November 2022 14 February 2023 96 days Telangana 21 September 2017
7 Jaswant Singh 15 February 2023 22 February 2023 8 days Punjab & Haryana 5 December 2007
-- T. A. Goud 23 February 2023 16 April 2023 53 days Telangana 21 September 2017
8 Aparesh Kumar Singh 17 April 2023 18 July 2025 2 years, 93 days Jharkhand Transferred to Telangana
-- T. A. Goud 18 July 2025 21 July 2025 4 days 153 days Telangana 21 September 2017
9 Mamidanna Satyaratna Ramachandra Rao 22 July 2025 Incumbent 290 days Telangana 29 June 2012
Close

Uttarakhand High Court

The Uttarakhand High Court was established on 9 November 2000 under Uttar Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2000 and has had 15 Chief Justices excluding Acting Chief Justices.

More information Sr. No., Name ...
Permanent Chief Justices
Sr. No. Name Portrait Date of Appointment Date of Retirement Tenure Parent High Court Date of initial Appointment
1 Ashok Desai 6 December 2000 31 March 2003[RES] 2 years, 116 days Bombay 21 November 1986
2 Sarosh Homi Kapadia Sarosh Homi Kapadia 5 August 2003 17 December 2003[‡] 135 days Bombay 8 October 1991
3 Vikas Sridhar Sirpurkar 25 July 2004 19 March 2005[c] 238 days Bombay 9 November 1992
4 Cyriac Joseph 20 March 2005 6 January 2006[d] 293 days Kerala 6 July 1994
5 Rajeev Gupta 14 January 2006[e] 1 February 2008[f] 2 years, 19 days Madhya Pradesh 27 September 1994
6 Vinod Kumar Gupta 2 February 2008[g] 9 September 2009 1 year, 220 days Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh
7 Jagdish Singh Khehar Jagdish Singh Khehar 29 November 2009 7 August 2010[d] 252 days Punjab & Haryana 8 February 1999
8 Barin Ghosh 12 August 2010[h] 4 June 2014 3 years, 297 days Calcutta 14 July 1995
9 Kuttiyil Mathew Joseph 31 July 2014 6 August 2018[‡] 4 years, 7 days Kerala 14 October 2004
10 Ramesh Ranganathan 2 November 2018 27 July 2020 1 year, 269 days Andhra Pradesh 26 May 2005
11 Raghvendra Singh Chauhan 7 January 2021[i] 23 December 2021 351 days Rajasthan
12 Vipin Sanghi 28 June 2022 26 October 2023 1 year, 121 days Delhi
13 Ritu Bahri 4 February 2024 10 October 2024 250 days Punjab & Haryana 16 August 2010
14 Guhanathan Narendar 26 December 2024 9 January 2026 1 year, 15 days Karnataka
15 Manoj Kumar Gupta 10 January 2026 Incumbent 118 days Allahabad 12 April 2013
Close
More information Name, From ...
Acting Chief Justices
Name From To Tenure Appointed due to Parent High Court Date of initial Appointment Ref..
Ashok Desai 9 November 2000 5 December 2000[§] 27 days Creation of New HC Bombay 21 November 1986
Prakash Chandra Verma 1 April 2003 4 August 2003 126 days Resignation of CJ Ashok Desai Allahabad 5 February 1999 [297]
18 December 2003 24 July 2004 220 days Elevation of CJ S. H. Kapadia to SCI
7 January 2006 13 January 2006 7 days Transfer of CJ Cyriac Joseph to Karnataka
B. C. Kandapal 10 September 2009 25 September 2009 16 days Retirement of CJ V. K. Gupta [298]
Tarun Agarwala 25 September 2009 28 November 2009 65 days Transferred as ACJ Allahabad 7 January 2004 [299]
V. K. Bist 5 June 2014 30 July 2014 56 days Retirement of CJ Barin Ghosh [300]
Rajeev Sharma 7 August 2018 2 November 2018 87 days Elevation of CJ K. M. Joseph to SCI [301]
Ravi Malimath 28 July 2020 6 January 2021 132 days Retirement of CJ R. Ranganathan
S. K. Mishra 24 December 2021 28 June 2022 187 days Retirement of CJ R. S. Chauhan Orissa 7 October 2009 [302]
M. K. Tiwari 27 October 2023 3 February 2024 100 days Retirement of CJ Vipin Sanghi
11 October 2024 25 December 2024 76 days Retirement of CJ Ritu Bahri
Close
  1. [a]
    Total tenure includes : (a) continuous successive tenures as Acting Chief Justice and Chief Justice (b) broken tenures as Acting Chief Justice and Chief Justice (c) broken tenures as Acting Chief Justice
  2. [b]
    Total tenure is mentioned at the time when the person served for last time Example: A judge served as ACJ in 2007 then in 2008 and again as CJ in 2009 then total tenure would be mentioned when he served for last time in 2009
  3. [c]
    Transferred to Calcutta High Court
  4. [d]
    Transferred to Karnataka High Court
  5. [e]
    Previously serving as CJ of Kerala High Court before being transferred as CJ of Uttarakhand
  6. [f]
    Transferred to Chhattisgarh High Court
  7. [g]
    Previously serving as CJ of Himachal Pradesh High Court before being transferred as CJ of Uttarakhand
  8. [h]
    Previously serving as CJ of Sikkim High Court before being transferred as CJ of Uttarakhand
  9. [i]
    Previously serving as CJ of Telangana High Court before being transferred as CJ of Uttarakhand

Chief justices who served in multiple high courts

Chief Justices who served in more than 1 High Court

More information Name, Initially Chief Justice of ...
Name Initially Chief Justice of Transferred to Date of initial Appointment as Chief Justice Date of Retirement from final High Court Total tenure as CJ
Soumen Sen Meghalaya Kerala 8 October 2025 Incumbent 212 days
K. R. Shriram Madras Rajasthan 27 September 2024 27 September 2025 1 year, 1 day
M. M. Shrivastava Rajasthan Madras 5 February 2024 Incumbent 2 years, 92 days
D. K. Upadhyaya Bombay Delhi 29 July 2023 Incumbent 2 years, 283 days
Alok Aradhe Telangana Bombay 23 July 2023 28 August 2025[‡] 2 years, 37 days
Aparesh Kumar Singh Tripura Telangana 17 April 2023 Incumbent 3 years, 11 days
Satish Chandra Sharma Telangana Delhi 11 October 2021 8 November 2023[‡] 2 years, 29 days
Pankaj Mithal Jammu & Kashmir Rajasthan 4 January 2021 5 February 2023[‡] 2 years, 33 days
Sanjib Banerjee Madras Meghalaya 4 January 2021 1 November 2023 2 years, 302 days
Biswanath Somadder Meghalaya Sikkim 27 April 2020 14 December 2025 5 years, 232 days
Akil A. Kureshi Tripura Rajasthan 16 November 2019 6 March 2022 2 years, 111 days
J. K. Maheshwari Andhra Pradesh Sikkim 7 October 2019 30 August 2021[‡] 1 year, 328 days
Indrajit Mahanty Rajasthan Tripura 6 October 2019 10 November 2022 3 years, 36 days
R. S. Chauhan Telangana Uttarakhand 22 June 2019 23 December 2021 2 years, 185 days
A. K. Mittal Meghalaya Madhya Pradesh 28 February 2019 29 September 2020 1 year, 214 days
A. P. Sahi Patna Madras 17 November 2018 31 December 2020 2 years, 45 days
Sanjay Karol Tripura Patna 14 November 2018 5 February 2023[‡] 4 years, 84 days
Pradeep Nandrajog Rajasthan Bombay 2 April 2017 23 February 2020 2 years, 328 days
Rajendra Menon Patna Delhi 15 March 2017 6 June 2019 2 years, 84 days
Dinesh Maheshwari Meghalaya Karnataka 24 February 2016 17 January 2019[‡] 2 years, 331 days
Navin Sinha Chhattisgarh Rajasthan 9 April 2015 17 February 2017[‡] 1 year, 315 days
Sanjay Kishan Kaul Punjab and Haryana Madras 1 June 2013 16 February 2017[‡] 3 years, 261 days
A. M. Khanwilkar Himachal Pradesh Madhya Pradesh 4 April 2013 12 May 2016[‡] 3 years, 39 days
Deepak Gupta Tripura Chhattisgarh 23 March 2013 16 February 2017[‡] 3 years, 331 days
A. M. Sapre Manipur Gauhati 23 March 2013 12 August 2014[‡] 1 year, 164 days
Amitava Roy Rajasthan Orissa 2 January 2013 26 February 2015[‡] 2 years, 56 days
A. K. Goel Gauhati Orissa 20 December 2011 6 July 2014[‡] 2 years, 199 days
Arun Mishra Rajasthan Calcutta 26 November 2010 6 July 2014[‡] 3 years, 223 days
M. S. Shah Calcutta Bombay 24 December 2009 8 September 2015 5 years, 259 days
Dipak Misra Patna Delhi 23 December 2009 9 October 2011[‡] 1 year, 291 days
Syed Rafat Alam Madhya Pradesh Allahabad 20 December 2009 7 August 2012 2 years, 232 days
J. S. Khehar Uttarakhand Karnataka 29 November 2009 12 September 2011[‡] 1 year, 288 days
A. H. Saikia Sikkim Jammu & Kashmir 7 March 2009 6 April 2011 2 years, 31 days
P. D. Dinakaran Karnataka Sikkim 8 August 2008 29 July 2011[RES] 2 years, 356 days
Jagadish Bhalla Himachal Pradesh Rajasthan 2 February 2008 31 October 2010 2 years, 272 days
K. S. Radhakrishnan Jammu & Kashmir Gujarat 7 January 2008 16 November 2009[‡] 1 year, 314 days
Jasti Chelameswar Gauhati Kerala 3 May 2007 9 October 2011[‡] 4 years, 160 days
H. L. Gokhale Allahabad Madras 7 March 2007 28 April 2010[‡] 3 years, 53 days
A. K. Ganguly Orissa Madras 2 March 2007 15 December 2008[‡] 1 year, 289 days
H. L. Dattu Chhattisgarh Kerala 12 February 2007 16 December 2008[‡] 1 year, 309 days
A. P. Shah Madras Delhi 12 November 2005 12 February 2010 4 years, 93 days
Cyriac Joseph Uttarakhand Karnataka 20 March 2005 6 July 2008[‡] 3 years, 109 days
A. K. Patnaik Chhattisgarh Madhya Pradesh 14 March 2005 16 November 2009[‡] 4 years, 248 days
Ajoy Nath Ray Allahabad Sikkim 11 January 2005 30 October 2008 3 years, 294 days
Markandey Katju Madras Delhi 28 November 2004 9 April 2006[‡] 1 year, 133 days
V. S. Sirpurkar Uttarakhand Calcutta 25 July 2004 11 January 2007[‡] 2 years, 171 days
N. K. Sodhi Kerala Karnataka 5 April 2004 29 November 2005 1 year, 239 days
Sachchidanand Jha Jammu & Kashmir Rajasthan 4 February 2004 15 June 2007 3 years, 132 days
Babulal Chandulal Patel Jammu & Kashmir Delhi 15 May 2002 7 August 2005 3 years, 85 days
P. K. Balasubramanyan Orissa Jharkhand 5 December 2001 26 August 2004[‡] 2 years, 266 days
B. Subhashan Reddy Madras Kerala 12 September 2001 2 March 2005 3 years, 172 days
W. A. Shishak Chhattisgarh Himachal Pradesh 5 December 2000 31 December 2002 2 years, 27 days
N. K. Jain Madras Karnataka 13 September 2000 20 October 2004 4 years, 38 days
C. K. Thakker Himachal Pradesh Bombay 5 May 2000 7 June 2004[‡] 4 years, 34 days
Arijit Pasayat Kerala Delhi 20 September 1999 18 October 2001[‡] 2 years, 29 days
K. G. Balakrishnan Gujarat Madras 16 July 1998 7 June 2000[‡] 1 year, 328 days
K. Sreedharan Punjab and Haryana Gujarat 30 July 1996 4 June 1998 1 year, 310 days
A. K. Mathur Madhya Pradesh Calcutta 3 February 1996 6 June 2004[‡] 8 years, 125 days
S. N. Phukan Himachal Pradesh Orissa 1 March 1995 27 January 1999[‡] 3 years, 333 days
M. Ramakrishna Jammu & Kashmir Gauhati 10 October 1994 12 April 1998 3 years, 185 days
G. T. Nanavati Orissa Karnataka 31 January 1994 4 March 1995[‡] 1 year, 33 days
Sujata Manohar Bombay Kerala 15 January 1994 7 November 1994[‡] 297 days
A. M. Bhattacharjee Calcutta Bombay 25 January 1993 1 April 1995[RES] 2 years, 67 days
M. K. Mukherjee Allahabad Bombay 12 November 1991 14 December 1993[‡] 2 years, 33 days
U. L. Bhat Gauhati Madhya Pradesh 20 August 1991 13 October 1995 4 years, 55 days
M. Jagannadha Rao Kerala Delhi 8 August 1991 20 March 1997[‡] 5 years, 225 days
G. C. Mittal Delhi Rajasthan 5 August 1991 3 March 1995 3 years, 211 days
K. C. Agarwal Rajasthan Calcutta 15 April 1990 15 January 1996 5 years, 276 days
G. G. Sohani Madhya Pradesh Patna 20 October 1989 17 December 1990 1 year, 59 days
Shushil Kumar Jha Patna Madhya Pradesh 19 October 1989 15 December 1993 4 years, 58 days
S. Mohan Madras Karnataka 19 October 1989 6 October 1991[‡] 1 year, 353 days
D. S. Tewatia Punjab and Haryana Calcutta 15 October 1987 2 May 1988[RES] 201 days
C. Mookerjee Calcutta Bombay 1 November 1986 1 January 1991 4 years, 62 days
J. S. Verma Madhya Pradesh Rajasthan 14 June 1986 22 May 1989[‡] 2 years, 343 days
Hridai Nath Seth Allahabad Punjab and Haryana 16 May 1986 14 October 1987 1 year, 152 days
Prem Chand Jain Punjab and Haryana Karnataka 1 August 1985 16 September 1989 4 years, 47 days
A. S. Anand Jammu & Kashmir Madras 11 May 1985 17 November 1991[‡] 6 years, 191 days
V. S. Malimath Karnataka Kerala 6 February 1984 11 June 1991 7 years, 126 days
D. Pathak Gauhati Orissa 18 April 1983 28 February 1986 2 years, 317 days
M. N. Chandurkar Bombay Madras 2 January 1984 13 March 1988 4 years, 72 days
P. S. Poti Kerala Gujarat 29 January 1981 1 February 1985 4 years, 4 days
S. S. Sandhawalia Punjab and Haryana Patna 17 July 1978 27 July 1987 9 years, 11 days
C. M. Lodha Gauhati Rajasthan 6 July 1978 9 July 1980 2 years, 4 days
Satish Chandra Allahabad Calcutta 22 March 1978 1 September 1986 8 years, 164 days
D. M. Chandrashekhar Allahabad Karnataka 10 May 1977 25 September 1982 5 years, 139 days
K. B. N. Singh Patna Madras 19 July 1976 24 January 1984 7 years, 190 days
P. Govindan Nair Kerala Madras 22 May 1973 28 May 1978 5 years, 7 days
R. L. Narasimham Orissa Patna 21 March 1956 2 August 1968 12 years, 135 days
Sarjoo Prasad Gauhati Rajasthan 10 February 1953 10 October 1961 8 years, 243 days
Kamalkanta Verma Allahabad Rajasthan 17 September 1946 24 January 1950 3 years, 130 days
Lawrence Hugh Jenkins Bombay Calcutta 20 April 1899 13 November 1915 16 years, 208 days
Louis Addin Kershaw Allahabad Bombay 6 April 1898 17 February 1899 318 days
William Comer Petheram Allahabad Calcutta 1 November 1884 November 1896
Richard Couch Bombay Calcutta 3 March 1866 5 April 1875[RES] 9 years, 34 days
Walter Morgan Allahabad Madras 13 June 1866 7 February 1879[RES] 12 years, 240 days
Close

Chief Justices who served in more than 2 High Courts (HC)

More information Name, Initially Chief Justice of (1st HC) ...
Name Initially Chief Justice of
(1st HC)		 Transferred to
(2nd HC)		 Retired from
(3rd HC)		 Date of initial Appointment as Chief Justice Date of Retirement from final High Court Total tenure as CJ
M. S. Ramachandra Rao Himachal Pradesh Jharkhand Tripura 30 May 2023 Incumbent 2 years, 343 days
Arup Kumar Goswami Sikkim Andhra Pradesh Chhattisgarh 15 October 2019 10 March 2023 3 years, 147 days
T. B. Radhakrishnan Chhattisgarh Telangana Calcutta 18 March 2017 28 April 2021 4 years, 42 days
D. H. Waghela Karnataka Orissa Bombay 7 March 2013 10 August 2016 3 years, 157 days
Manjula Chellur Kerala Calcutta Bombay 26 September 2012 4 December 2017 5 years, 70 days
Barin Ghosh Jammu & Kashmir Sikkim Uttarakhand 3 January 2009 4 June 2014 5 years, 153 days
Rajeev Gupta Kerala Uttarakhand Chhattisgarh 27 April 2005 9 October 2012 7 years, 166 days
B. K. Roy Punjab and Haryana Gauhati Sikkim 14 October 2002 26 December 2006 4 years, 74 days
Vinod Kumar Gupta Jharkhand Himachal Pradesh Uttarakhand 5 December 2000 9 September 2009 8 years, 279 days
Bhawani Singh Jammu & Kashmir Madhya Pradesh Gujarat 16 June 1997 28 March 2006 8 years, 286 days
P. D. Desai Himachal Pradesh Calcutta Bombay 23 December 1983 14 December 1992 8 years, 358 days
Close

Chief Justices who served in more than 3 High Courts (HC)

More information Name, Initially Chief Justice of (1st HC) ...
Name Initially Chief Justice of
(1st HC)		 Transferred to
(2nd HC)		 Again transferred to
(3rd HC)		 Retired from
(4th HC)		 Date of initial Appointment as Chief Justice Date of Retirement from final High Court Total tenure as CJ
Mohammad Rafiq Meghalaya Orissa Madhya Pradesh Himachal Pradesh 13 November 2019 24 May 2022 2 years, 193 days
Close

See also

Notes

  1. [α]
    Then known as Federal Court of India
  2. [β]
    Nagpur High court ceased to exist on 1 November 1956 when it was converted into newly established Madhya Pradesh High Court and some of its judges became judges of Madhya Pradesh High court while some of its judges were transferred to Bombay High Court
  3. [γ]
    Cochin High Court was converted into Kerala High Court on 1 November 1956 and all of its judges were transferred to Kerala High court
  4. [δ]
    Hyderabad High Court ceased to exist when it was merged into Andhra Pradesh High Court on 1 November 1957 and all of its judges were transferred to Andhra Pradesh High court
  5. [ε]
    Gwalior High Court was subsumed into Madhya Bharat High Court on 24 January 1950 which in turn was merged into newly established Madhya Pradesh High Court on 1 November 1956
  6. [ζ]
    Before independence Lahore High Court has jurisdiction over Punjab, India after independence new High Court for Punjab was created and Indian judges from Lahore High Court was transferred to it.

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