LAST WEEK, the Supreme Court Collegium made recommendations to appoint chief justices to four high courts.
The Collegium, which comprises Chief Justice of India (‘CJI’) Surya Kant and Justices Vikram Nath and B.V. Nagarathna, made recommendations to appoint chief justices to the High Courts of Patna, Bombay, Calcutta and Punjab and Haryana, in a meeting held on August 6.
Patna HC gets a regular Chief Justice
Justice V. Kameswar Rao, the senior-most judge of the Delhi High Court, is recommended to be appointed as Chief Justice of the Patna High Court, which has not had a regular chief justice since July 11 this year when the then incumbent Chief Justice Meenakashi Madan Rai retired.
Justice Rao was originally appointed as an additional judge of the Delhi High Court on April 17, 2013, and made permanent on March 18, 2015. He was transferred to the Karnataka High Court on June 1, 2024, and later repatriated to the Delhi High Court on July 21, 2025.
Justice Ravindra V. Ghuge recommended for Calcutta HC Chief Justice
Justice Ravindra V. Ghuge, who comes from the Bombay High Court, has been recommended for appointment as Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court. He has been functioning as Acting Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court since June 2026, when the incumbent Chief Justice Sree Chandrashekhar was elevated to the Supreme Court.
Justice Ghuge was appointed as an additional judge of the Bombay High Court on June 21, 2013, and was made permanent on March 2, 2016. The Calcutta High Court has been functioning without a regular Chief Justice since June 21, 2026, when the incumbent Chief Justice Sujoy Paul retired.
Justice V. Kameswar Rao, the senior-most judge of the Delhi High Court, is recommended to be appointed as Chief Justice of the Patna High Court, which has not had a regular chief justice since July 11 this year.
Justice Mahesh Chandra Tripathi recommended to steer Bombay HC
Justice Mahesh Chandra Tripathi, who is a judge at the Allahabad High Court, has been recommended for appointment as Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court. Justice Tripathi is the senior-most judge at the Allahabad High Court. He was appointed as an additional judge of the Allahabad High Court on September 27, 2013, and was made permanent on April 10, 2015.
Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra to become regular Chief Justice of Punjab & Haryana HC
Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra, who originally comes from the Allahabad High Court and is presently functioning as Acting Chief Justice at the Punjab and Haryana High Court, has been recommended to be made regular Chief Justice there. Justice Mishra was transferred to the Punjab and Haryana High Court on July 21, 2025.
He was appointed as an Additional Judge of the Allahabad High Court on February 3, 2015, and was made permanent on February 1, 2016.
The Collegium has not spelled out the reasons or the factors that weighed with it in making these recommendations.
Justice Manash Ranjan Pathak could be in line to become Gujarat HC Acting Chief Justice
In addition, the Collegium, which has two more judges, namely Justices M.M. Sundresh and P.S. Narasimha, also decided to transfer Justice Manash Ranjan Pathak from the Orissa High Court to the Gujarat High Court.
Justice Pathak originally comes from the Gauhati High Court. He was transferred to the Orissa High Court on July 21, 2025. He was appointed as an additional judge of the Gauhati High Court on May 22, 2013, and made permanent on November 12, 2018.
If the Collegium’s recommendation is approved by the Government, he would become the senior-most judge at the Gujarat High Court and is likely to act as Acting Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court in case the Collegium decides to recommend the appointment of Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal to the Supreme Court.
Orissa HC’s second senior-most judge transferred to Chhattisgarh
Justice Krushna Ram Mohapatra has been recommended to be transferred from the Orissa High Court to the Chhattisgarh High Court. Justice Mohapatra is the second senior-most judge at the Orissa High Court. He was appointed as a judge of the Orissa High Court on April 17, 2015.
The Collegium has not spelled out the reasons or the factors that weighed with it in making these recommendations. It chose to simply issue a statement notifying that the aforementioned recommendations have been put forward by it.