Eight High Courts to get new Chief Justices

President Ram Nath Kovind has approved the appointment of chief justices to eight high courts in the country. The President also approved the transfer of five chief justices to different high courts. The clearance in the 13 High Courts was considered crucial as some of them have been making do with Acting Chief Justices. On August 17, a five-member Supreme Court collegium had recommended nine names for elevation as judges of Supreme Court at one go.

Five Chief Justices have been transferred:

• The government cleared the transfer of Tripura High Court Chief Justice A.A. Kureshi to the Rajasthan High Court.
• Justice Indrajit Mahanty, Chief Justice of the Rajasthan High Court, would take over as Tripura Chief Justice.
• Chief Justice Mohammad Rafiq of Madhya Pradesh has been appointed as the Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court.
• Chief Justice Biswanath Somadder of the Meghalaya High Court has been transferred as the Chief Justice of the Sikkim High Court.
• Justice A.K. Goswami has been appointed as the Chief Justice of the Chhattisgarh High Court. He is presently the Chief Justice of Andhra Pradesh High Court.

Newly appointed Chief Justice:

• Justice Rajesh Bindal, Acting Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court, was appointed as the Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court.
• Justice Ranjit V. More has been appointed as the Chief Justice of the Meghalaya High Court.
• Justice Satish Chandra Sharma, Acting Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court, has been appointed as the Chief Justice of the Telangana High Court.
• Justice Prakash Srivastava, a Madhya Pradesh High Court judge, has been appointed as the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court.
• Justice R.V. Malimath has been appointed as the Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court.
• Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi has been appointed as the Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court.
• Justice Aravind Kumar has been appointed as the Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court.
• Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra would take over as the Chief Justice of the Andhra Pradesh High Court.