Judicial Appointments Tracker: January 2026

Judicial Appointments Tracker aims to provide monthly updates on the appointment status of a candidate from the time they are recommended for judgeship by the Supreme Court Collegium until the appointment is cleared by the Central government.

Below are the details of the recommendations made by the Collegium and the appointments notified by the Central government in January 2026.

January 1

The Centre cleared the appointments of two of the five recommendations for High Court Chief Justices made by the Supreme Court Collegium on December 18, 2025.

The appointment of Justice Revati Mohite Dere, a judge of the Bombay High Court, as Chief Justice of the Meghalaya High Court was notified by the government on January 1. She was sworn in as Chief Justice on January 10.

The appointment was made consequent to the transfer of the incumbent Meghalaya High Court Chief Justice Soumen Sen to the Kerala High Court. Justice Sen's transfer was also notified on January 1. He assumed office on January 10 after Chief Justice Nitin Jamdar demitted office.

Also notified on the same day was the appointment of Orissa High Court judge Justice Sangam Kumar Sahoo as Chief Justice of the Patna High Court. He was sworn in on January 7.

January 2

The Central government cleared the appointment of Bombay High Court Justice MS Sonak as the Chief Justice of the Jharkhand High Court. His name was also recommended by the Collegium following its December 18 meeting.

Justice Sonak assumed office as Chief Justice of the Jharkhand High Court upon the retirement of the Chief Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan on January 8, 2026.

On January 2, the Central government also notified the appointment of two judicial officers, Ramesh Chander Dimri and Neerja Kulwant Kalson, as additional judges of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

The Supreme Court Collegium had recommended their appointment after a meeting held on December 16, 2025.

January 3

Another recommendation from the December 18 meeting was cleared on January 3 with the Centre notifying the appointment of Kerala High Court Justice A Muhamed Mustaque as the Chief Justice of the Sikkim High Court.

Justice Mustaque took the oath the very next day.

January 5

The Central government cleared the appointment of advocates Ritesh Kumar and Praveen Kumar as judges of the Patna High Court.

The Supreme Court collegium had recommended the elevation of advocate Ritesh Kumar nearly a year ago, in February 2025. The recommendation for elevating advocate Praveen Kumar was made in July 2025.

The Centre also notified the appointment of advocate Jai Krishna Upadhyay as a judge of the Allahabad High Court.

Upadhyay’s appointment followed the recommendation made by the Supreme Court Collegium at a meeting held on September 1, 2025, where it had cleared a batch of 26 names for elevation to the High Court.

He was among the advocates recommended for appointment from the Bar as part of that batch.

On September 26, 2025, Central government cleared the appointment of 24 of the 26 recommendees to the High Court but Upadhyay's recommendation was not cleared then.

It was subsequently cleared on January 5.

The recommendation to elevate advocate Adnan Ahmad remains pending.

January 8

The final of the five recommendations made by the Collegium on December 18, 2025 was cleared on January 8, 2026 with the Central government notifying the appointment of Allahabad High Court judge Justice Manoj Kumar Gupta as Chief Justice of the Uttarakhand High Court.

He assumed office after the superannuation of incumbent Chief Justice G Narendar on January 9.

January 14

The Central government notified the appointment of Calcutta High Court judge, Justice Sujoy Paul as the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court.

The appointment followed the recommendation of the Collegium in a meeting held on January 9, 2026.

January 28

The Supreme Court Collegium recommended the elevation of Advocate M Balaji as a judge of the Andhra Pradesh High Court following a meeting held on January 28.

His appointment was notified by the Centre on February 10 and he was sworn in on February 12.