Four high courts get new chief justices

The appointments include a woman chief justice for Gujarat high court, the sole high court in the country with a woman at the helm

The Centre on Wednesday notified elevation of four judges as chief justices of Telangana, Orissa, Gujarat and Kerala high courts.

With the present appointments, out of the 25 high courts, there will be only two high courts — Bombay and Manipur high courts — having acting chief justices (Representative Photo)

The appointments include a woman chief justice for Gujarat high court, the sole high court in the country with a woman at the helm.

Clearing the recommendations received in this regard from the Supreme Court collegium on July 5, the President of India Droupadi Murmu, notified the appointment of justice Alok Aradhe as Telangana high court chief justice, justice Subhasis Talapatra as Orissa high court chief justice (upon the retirement of present CJ on August 7), justice Sunita Agarwal as Gujarat high court chief justice and justice Ashish Jitendra Desai as Kerala high court chief justice.

Union law minister Arjun Ram Meghwal confirmed the development in a tweet published along with a copy of the notification. Additionally, the Centre also notified the transfer of justice P Sam Koshy from Chhattisgarh high court to Telangana high court.

“In exercise of power conferred by the Constitution of India, the President of India, after consultation with Chief Justice of India, is pleased to appoint the following high court judges as chief justices of high courts and transfer of a high court judge,” said the tweet.

The collegium headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud along with justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Sanjiv Khanna had recommended the above appointments in a meeting held on July 5. At the same meeting, the collegium had also recommended chief justices for three other high courts which is still pending with the Centre.

These include the recommendation to elevate Bombay high court judge, justice Dhiraj Singh Thakur, as Andhra Pradesh high court chief justice; Allahabad high court judge, justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyay as Bombay high court chief justice, and Delhi high court judge, justice Siddharth Mridul, as Manipur high court chief justice.

With the present appointments, out of the 25 high courts, there will be only two high courts – Bombay and Manipur high courts – having acting chief justices.

Gujarat high court will be getting a woman chief justice for the second consecutive time after the retirement of justice Sonia G Gokani in February. The high court had since been administered by acting chief justice Ashish J Desai, who will now be moving as chief justice of Kerala high court.

Justice Sunita Agarwal who is to take over as Gujarat HC chief justice was appointed as a judge of the Allahabad high court in November 2011 and is still serving at her parent high court as the senior-most judge after the chief justice there.

While considering her name, the collegium resolution said, “The Collegium has taken into consideration the fact that she would be the only woman chief justice of a high court as presently there is no woman among the chief justices of the high courts.”

Justice Alok Aradhe who will be heading the Telangana high court is presently serving as a judge of the Karnataka high court. His parent high court is of Madhya Pradesh and he was transferred to Karnataka high court in November 2018.

The Orissa high court is currently headed by chief justice S Muralidhar who will demit office on August 7. Replacing him will be justice Subhasis Talapatra, who is already serving as a judge of Orissa high court. Justice Talapatra was elevated as a judge of the Gauhati high court in November 2011 and had later opted Tripura as his parent high court in 2013. He was transferred to Orissa high court in June last year. Upon his appointment as chief justice, Tripura will get its first ever representation among chief justices of high courts.

Justice Ashish Desai who was appointed judge of the Gujarat high court in 2011 will also be the only judge from Gujarat high court to represent among the chief justices of high courts when he takes oath as Kerala high court chief justice. With the present appointments, out of the 25 high courts, there will be only two high courts — Bombay and Manipur high courts — having acting chief justices.

Gujarat high court will be getting a woman chief justice for the second consecutive time after the retirement of justice Sonia G Gokani in February.