Eight judges were elevated as chief justices of various high courts, including those of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka, on Saturday, October 9. In a related move, chief justices of five high courts, including Justice A A Kureshi, were transferred to different states in the same capacity. Acting chief justice of the Karnataka High Court, Justice Satish Chandra Sharma has been elevated as chief justice of the Telangana High Court. Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra of the Chhattisgarh High Court has been made chief justice of the Andhra Pradesh High Court. Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi of the Allahabad High Court will head the Karnataka High Court.
According to a list tweeted by the Department of Justice in the Law Ministry, Justice Rajesh Bindal, acting chief justice of the Calcutta High Court, was elevated as chief justice of the Allahabad High Court. Justice Bindal has been in news recently due to his administrative and judicial decisions in matters related to the political standoff between the BJP and the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal. Justice Ranjit V More of Meghalaya was made chief justice of the same high court. Justice Prakash Shrivastava of the Madhya Pradesh High Court has been made chief justice of the Calcutta High Court. Acting chief justice of Himachal Pradesh High Court Justice R V Malimath will now head the Madhya Pradesh High Court. Similarly, Justice Arvind Kumar of the Karnataka High Court has been elevated as chief justice of the Gujarat High Court.
Separately, Justice A A Kureshi, chief justice of the Tripura High Court has been transferred as chief justice of the Rajasthan High Court. Justice Kureshi, one of the senior-most high court judges in the country, was originally elevated as a judge in the Gujarat High Court and has been in news due to his non-elevation as a judge of the apex court.
Justice Indrajit Mahanty, heading the Rajasthan High Court has been posted as chief justice of the Tripura High Court. Justice Mohammed Rafiq, heading the Madhya Pradesh High Court has been sent to Himachal Pradesh High Court as its new chief justice. Justice Biswanath Somadder heading the Meghalaya High Court has been posted as chief justice of the Sikkim High Court. Justice A K Goswami, heading the Andhra Pradesh High Court, will now head the Chhattisgarh High Court.
The Supreme Court collegium had last month recommended these elevations and transfers.