The Central Government has cleared the appointment of Chief Justices to eight High Courts, bringing the leadership of all 25 High Courts under regular incumbents.
The appointments were notified on September 5 following recommendations of the Supreme Court Collegium. Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal announced the appointments, which involve the transfer and elevation of serving High Court judges to head various constitutional courts across the country.
The newly appointed Chief Justices are Justice Valluri Kameswar Rao, who will head the Patna High Court; Justice Ravindra V Ghuge, appointed Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court; Justice Sanjay Kumar Agrawal, who will take charge as Chief Justice of the Rajasthan High Court; and Justice Mahesh Chandra Tripathi, appointed Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court.
The appointments further include Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra as Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Justice Krushna Ram Mohapatra as Chief Justice of the Chhattisgarh High Court, Justice Alpesh Yeshvant Kogje as Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court, and Justice Pushpendra Singh Bhati as Chief Justice of the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court.
The latest appointments follow a series of recommendations made by the Supreme Court Collegium in August. The Collegium had recommended appointments for several High Courts on August 6 and August 31, while the recommendation concerning the Chhattisgarh High Court was made separately following the retirement of its incumbent Chief Justice on September 4.
With the latest notifications, the long-pending vacancies in the top judicial offices of the High Courts have effectively been addressed. The development assumes significance for judicial administration as the Chief Justice of a High Court plays a central role in constitution of benches, allocation of judicial and administrative work, listing of cases and overall institutional functioning.
The appointments also mark the completion of the current exercise to fill the offices of regular Chief Justices across all 25 High Courts. The focus of the Supreme Court Collegium is now expected to shift towards filling vacancies in the Supreme Court. Four vacancies have emerged following an increase in the sanctioned strength of the apex court under the 2026 amendment, with another vacancy expected later this year upon the retirement of Justice Satish Chandra Sharma.
The latest exercise, however, has not been entirely free from controversy. The Punjab Government has objected to the appointment of Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra as Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, contending that the State’s views were not sought before the notification was issued. The State Cabinet has urged that the appointment and administration of oath be kept in abeyance, citing the procedure contemplated under the Memorandum of Procedure governing judicial appointments.
The appointments come against the backdrop of the continuing debate over the functioning of the Collegium system and the respective roles of the judiciary, the Union Government and State Governments in judicial appointments. The Supreme Court’s official records show that the Collegium had issued a series of resolutions in August recommending appointments and transfers of Chief Justices across High Courts.
The filling of the Chief Justice posts is expected to provide greater institutional stability to the High Courts and enable the judiciary to concentrate on the administration and adjudication of cases amid mounting litigation and persistent judicial vacancies.
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