List of female chief justices in India
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is a list of women who have served as chief justices of the high courts of India, arranged in chronological order.
The first woman to be appointed as the chief justice of an Indian high court was Leila Seth, who assumed office at the Himachal Pradesh High Court on 5 August 1991. The Kerala High Court and the Madras High Court have each had the highest number of female chief justices, with three appointments each.
Manjula Chellur served as the chief justice of three different high courts and holds the record for the longest combined tenure among female chief justices, exceeding five years. In contrast, Sonia Gokani had the shortest tenure, serving for just nine days.
Till 10 January 2026, there have been 19 women chief justices across 14 high courts. At present, two women serve as chief justices among the 25 high courts chief justices in India.
- Key
Incumbent
| No. | Portrait | Name | Date of appointment | Date of retirement | Tenure | High Court | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | .jpg) |
Leila Seth | 5 August 1991 | 20 October 1992 | 1 year, 76 days | Himachal Pradesh High Court | First female chief justice of a high court in India.[1] |
| 2 |  |
Kanta Kumari Bhatnagar | 15 June 1992 | 14 November 1992 | 152 days | Madras High Court | First female chief justice of the Madras High Court.[2] |
| 3 | |
Sujata Manohar | 15 January 1994 | 20 April 1994 | 95 days | Bombay High Court | First female chief justice of the Bombay High Court and the Kerala High Court. Later elevated as a judge to the Supreme Court of India.[3] |
| 21 April 1994 | 7 November 1994 | 200 days | Kerala High Court | ||||
| 4 | |
K. K. Usha | 25 February 2001 | 3 July 2001 | 128 days | Kerala High Court | [4] |
| 5 | |
Gyan Sudha Misra | 13 July 2008 | 30 April 2010 | 1 year, 291 days | Jharkhand High Court | First female chief justice of the Jharkhand High Court. Later elevated as a judge to the Supreme Court of India.[5] |
| 6 | |
Rekha Doshit | 21 June 2010 | 12 December 2014 | 4 years, 174 days | Patna High Court | First female chief justice of the Patna High Court.[6] |
| 7 | |
Manjula Chellur | 26 September 2012 | 1 August 2014 | 1 year, 310 days | Kerala High Court | First female chief justice of the Calcutta High Court.[7] |
| 6 August 2014 | 21 August 2016 | 2 years, 15 days | Calcutta High Court | ||||
| 22 August 2016 | 4 December 2017 | 1 year, 104 days | Bombay High Court | ||||
| 8 | |
T. Meena Kumari | 23 March 2013 | 3 August 2013 | 133 days | Meghalaya High Court | First chief justice of the Meghalaya High Court.[8] |
| 9 |  |
R. Banumathi | 16 November 2013 | 12 August 2014 | 269 days | Jharkhand High Court | Later elevated as a judge to the Supreme Court of India.[9] |
| 10 | |
Gorla Rohini | 21 April 2014 | 13 April 2017 | 2 years, 357 days | Delhi High Court | First female chief justice of the Delhi High Court.[10] |
| 11 |  |
Indira Banerjee | 5 April 2017 | 6 August 2018 | 1 year, 123 days | Madras High Court | Later elevated as a judge to the Supreme Court of India.[11] |
| 12 | |
Abhilasha Kumari | 9 February 2018 | 22 February 2018 | 13 days | Manipur High Court | First female chief justice of the Manipur High Court.[12] |
| 13 | |
Gita Mittal | 11 August 2018 | 8 December 2020 | 2 years, 119 days | Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court | First female chief justice of the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court.[13] |
| 14 | |
Vijaya Tahilramani | 12 August 2018 | 6 September 2019 | 1 year, 25 days | Madras High Court | [14] |
| 15 |  |
Hima Kohli | 7 January 2021 | 30 August 2021 | 235 days | Telangana High Court | First female chief justice of the Telangana High Court. Later elevated as a judge to the Supreme Court of India.[15] |
| 16 | |
Sonia Gokani | 16 February 2023 | 25 February 2023 | 9 days | Gujarat High Court | First female chief justice of the Gujarat High Court.[16] |
| 17 | |
Sunita Agarwal | 23 July 2023 | Incumbent | 2 years, 278 days | Gujarat High Court | [17] |
| 18 | |
Ritu Bahri | 4 February 2024 | 10 October 2024 | 249 days | Uttarakhand High Court | First female chief justice of the Uttarakhand High Court.[18] |
| 19 | |
Revati Prashant Mohite Dere | 10 January 2026 | Incumbent | 107 days | Meghalaya High Court | [19] |
| 20 | |
Lisa Gill | 25 April 2026 | Incumbent | 2 days | Andhra Pradesh | First Female Chief Justice of Andhra Pradesh High Court.[20] |
See also
- List of female governors in India
- List of female lieutenant governors and administrators in India
- List of female chief ministers in India
- List of female deputy chief ministers in India
- List of female legislative speakers and chairpersons in India
- List of female opposition leaders in India
- List of current Indian chief justices
- List of chief justices of India
- List of sitting judges of the Supreme Court of India
- List of former judges of the Supreme Court of India
- List of female judges of the Supreme Court of India
- List of sitting judges of the high courts of India
- List of first women lawyers and judges in Asia
References
- ↑ "5th August 1991: Justice Leila Seth Becomes the First Indian Woman Chief Justice of a state High Court". 5 August 2013.
- ↑ "Former Madras CJ passes away". The Hindu. 15 August 2011. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
- ↑ "Official Website of High Court of Bombay". Archived from the original on 5 July 2015.
- ↑ "Chief Justice KK Usha". Kerala Women. Archived from the original on 5 March 2012. Retrieved 20 April 2012.
- ↑ "JharkhandHighCourt". Archived from the original on 5 October 2013. Retrieved 15 January 2012.
- ↑ "Woman Chief Justice for Patna High Court". The Hindu. 17 June 2010. Archived from the original on 19 June 2010. Retrieved 11 March 2014.
- ↑ "Manjula Chellur to become first woman Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court; Assumes office on August 5". Bar and Bench. B&B News Network. 23 July 2014. Archived from the original on 24 July 2014. Retrieved 24 July 2014.
- ↑ PTI (23 March 2013). "Meena Kumari sworn in as first chief justice of Meghalaya HC". The Hindu. Retrieved 21 January 2014.
- ↑ http://supremecourtofindia.nic.in/judges/sjud/rbanumathi.htm R. Banumatji, profile
- ↑ "Delhi gets its first woman Chief Justice". The Hindu. 22 April 2014. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
- ↑ "Indira Banerjee appointed Chief Justice of Madras High Court". The Hindu. 31 March 2017.
- ↑ Samom, Shobhapati (9 February 2018). "Justice Abhilasha Kumari is Manipur HC's first woman chief justice". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 17 September 2018.
- ↑ "Justice Geeta Mittal is 1st woman judge of J&K HC; Justice Menon to head Delhi HC". The Economic Times. 4 August 2018. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
- ↑ "Justice VK Tahilramani Appointed As Chief Justice Of Madras High Court". Live Law. 4 August 2018. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
- ↑ "Justice Hima Kohli takes charge as 1st woman CJ of Telangana high court". Hindustan Times. 7 January 2021. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
- ↑ "High Court of Gujarat". gujarathighcourt.nic.in. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
- ↑ "Hon'ble Mrs. Justice Sunita Agarwal". Allahabad High Court.
- ↑ "Justice Ritu Bahri becomes first woman chief justice of Uttarakhand high court". Hindustan Times. 4 February 2024.
- ↑ Bench, Bar & (1 January 2026). "Centre clears appointment of Bombay HC Justice Revati Mohite Dere as Meghalaya High Court Chief Justice". Bar and Bench - Indian Legal news. Retrieved 1 January 2026.
- ↑ Hindu, The (23 April 2026). "Lisa Gill appointed Chief Justice of A.P. High Court". The Hindu. Retrieved 23 April 2026.