Supreme Court Collegium recommends 4 High Court Chief Justices: Know the judges

A Delhi University graduate in geography and law, he enrolled as an advocate in March 1991. He spent more than two decades practising before the Delhi High Court and the Central Administrative Tribunal, largely in service and labour matters. He was designated a senior advocate in 2010 and elevated to the Delhi High Court in April 2013, becoming a permanent judge two years later before being transferred to the Karnataka High Court in 2024, where he took over as Acting Chief Justice the following year before returning to Delhi in July 2025.

Much of Justice Rao’s work on the bench has centred on service jurisprudence. In a 2023 ruling, a division bench that he was heading held that the period an employee remains out of service because of conviction or incarceration would count towards seniority and consequential benefits if the employee is subsequently acquitted and reinstated, though not for back wages. Justice Rao was also on the committee that cleared 85 advocates for senior advocate posts in July 2026. Rao is due to retire in August 2027.

Justice Ravindra V Ghuge

The Collegium, in its August 6 resolution, recommended the elevation of Justice Ravindra Vithalrao Ghuge as the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court.

Born in Kolhapur, Ghuge began his legal career in labour and industrial courts, representing workers and trade unions before later appearing for companies, including multinational corporations. He was elevated to the Bombay High Court in 2013 and was made a permanent judge in 2016 before he took over as Acting Chief Justice in June this year.

He is presently heading the full bench hearing challenges to Maharashtra’s 2024 law providing 10 per cent reservation for the Maratha community in education and public employment. If appointed to Calcutta, the matter may have to be heard once again.

Justice Ghuge has dealt with labour, service and public law matters during his tenure on the bench. In 2023, while hearing a suo motu PIL, a division bench led by him intervened after reports emerged that school children were using makeshift thermocol rafts to cross a dam reservoir inhabited by snakes to reach school, prompting the court to seek accountability from the authorities and examine the state’s obligations towards access to education and basic infrastructure in remote areas.

Justice Mahesh Chandra Tripathi

Justice Mahesh Chandra Tripathi, whose parent court is the Allahabad High Court, has been recommended as Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court. A law graduate from Lucknow University, he enrolled as an advocate in 1992. He built a practice in civil cases before serving as Additional Chief Standing Counsel for the Uttar Pradesh government. He appeared for several state agencies and public authorities before being elevated to the bench in Allahabad High Court in 2013.

Over the years, Justice Tripathi has dealt with a wide range of constitutional, civil and service law matters. In a notable ruling, a bench led by him held that abandonment of elderly parents infringes their right to life and dignity under Article 21 of the Constitution. In February 2025, a division bench headed by him permitted a survivor of sexual assault to terminate her pregnancy, emphasising the victim’s autonomy and dignity.

He was also part of a bench that reinstated a police constable who had been dismissed despite being acquitted in the criminal case against him, holding the departmental punishment to be disproportionate. He is due to retire in June 2028.

Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra

Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra is currently serving as Acting Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. An economics graduate from Kirori Mal College and a law graduate from Delhi University’s Campus Law Centre, he enrolled as an advocate in 1993. He practised for statutory authorities and public bodies, including NOIDA and Indian Oil Corporation. He was designated a Senior Advocate in 2013 and elevated to the Allahabad High Court the following year.

After nearly a decade on the Allahabad High Court bench, Mishra was transferred to the Punjab and Haryana High Court in 2025 and took over as Acting Chief Justice in June this year. During his tenure in Allahabad, he was part of the bench that acquitted Surendra Koli and Moninder Singh Pandher in the Nithari killings cases, holding that the prosecution had failed to establish their guilt beyond reasonable doubt.

More recently, at the Punjab and Haryana High Court, he has been hearing matters relating to illegal mining in the Aravalli region, describing it as a “blatant loot and plunder of natural resources” and calling for accountability from the authorities.