The Central Government has notified the appointment of Acting Chief Justices to the High Courts of Punjab and Haryana, Kerala, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh. The appointments were made in view of the fact that the Chief Justices of these High Court were elevated as Supreme Court judges earlier this week.

Consequently, the Government has intimated that the following senior-most judges will helm their respective High Courts until permanent Chief Justices are appointed.

The following are the four Acting Chief Justices:

• Justice Dharam Chand Chaudhary for the Himachal Pradesh High Court, in view of Chief Justice V Ramasubramanian’s appointment as a Supreme Court judge. It may be noted that the Collegium has recommended that Acting Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court, Justice L Narayana Swamy, be appointed as Chief Justice

• Justice Chandra Villa Koyaniipilla Abdul Rahim for the Kerala High Court in view of Chief Justice Hrishikesh Roy’s appointment as a Supreme Court judge. Justice S Manikumar of the Madras High Court has been recommended to replace Justice Hrishikesh Roy as Chief Justice.

• Justice Mohammad Rafiq for the Rajasthan High Court in view of Chief Justice S Ravindra Bhat’s appointment as a Supreme Court judge. Justice Indrajit Mahanty, presently serving in the Bombay High Court has been recommended by the Collegium to be the next Chief Justice.

• Justice Rajeev Sharma for the Punjab and Haryana High Court in view of Chief Justice Krishna Murari’s appointment as a Supreme Court judge. The Collegium had recommended that Justice Ravi Shankar Jha, who is currently Acting Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court, be appointed the next Chief Justice.

The Collegium recommendations as regards the next permanent Chief Justice appointments to these High Courts, which were made on August 28, are yet to be acted on by the Central Government,

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