Chief justices appointed in 7 high courts, including in Delhi

New Delhi: New chief justices were appointed in seven high courts, including in Delhi, on Saturday.

Separately, Justice M S Ramachandra Rao, who heads the Himachal Pradesh High Court, has been transferred as the chief justice of the Jharkhand High Court.

His transfer came days after the Jharkhand government moved the Supreme Court against the BJP-led Centre for not implementing the apex court collegium's recommendation to send Justice Rao to head the state high court.


The appointments came after the Supreme Court Collegium amended some of its July 11 recommendations on Tuesday.

While Justice Manmohan, the acting chief justice of the Delhi High Court, has been appointed as the court's chief justice, Justice Rajiv Shakdher, a Delhi High Court judge, has been elevated as the chief justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court.

Justice Shakdher is due to retire on October 18.

The collegium had recommended that upon his retirement on attaining the age of 62, Justice G S Sandhawalia be appointed as the chief justice of the High Court of Himachal Pradesh.

This recommendation is pending with the government and may come through ahead of Justice Shakdher's retirement.

Justice Nitin Madhukar Jamdar, a Bombay High Court judge, has been appointed as the chief justice of the Kerala High Court.

Justice K R Shriram of the Bombay High Court has been made the chief justice of the Madras High Court.

Justice Indra Prasanna Mukerji of the Calcutta High Court has been appointed as the chief justice of the High Court of Meghalaya.

Justice Tashi Rabstan of the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court has been made the chief justice of the court.

While recommending Justice Rabstan's name for elevation, the Supreme Court Collegium had noted that he would be the first chief justice from the region of Ladakh, which has little or no representation among the judges of the high courts and no representation at all so far in the office of chief justice.

Justice Suresh Kumar Kait of the Delhi High Court has been elevated as the chief justice of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh.

Separately, three judicial officers have been elevated as additional judges of the Madras High Court.