Collegium recommends appointment of Bombay High Court Justice MS Sonak as Chief Justice of Jharkhand High Court

The Supreme Court Collegium on Thursday recommended the appointment of Bombay High Court Justice MS Sonak as the Chief Justice of Jharkhand High Court.

The recommendation was made at the Collegium's meeting held on December 18 where it proposed the elevation of five High Court judges as Chief Justices of different High Courts across the country.

The recommendation was made by a Collegium headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant.

According to the statement published by the Collegium on the Supreme Court website, his appointment will be effective upon retirement of incumbent Chief Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan on January 8, 2026.

Justice Sonak was born in November 28, 1964.He completed school education from Don Bosco High School at Panaji in Goa and B Sc. from Dhempe College of Arts & Science.

He took his LL.B. degree from, from MS College of Law in Panaji and enrolled as an advocate in 1988.

He practiced at Panaji Bench of the Bombay High Court and was later appointed Additional Standing Counsel for Central Government, Special Counsel for State Government and Statutory Corporations.

He was elevated as an additional judge of the Bombay High Court on June 21, 2013.

Recently, he became the first person in Goa to register a 'living will'.

A living will/advance directive is a document that persons with deteriorating health or the terminally ill can execute in advance, through which they can choose not to remain in a vegetative state with life support system if they enter into a state when it will not be possible for them to express their wishes

This document could then be presented to a hospital for appropriate action in the event the executant’s health worsens.

The registration of Justice Sonak's will took place publicly at an event organised by the Goa branch of IMA to release a booklet on the Advanced Medical Directives which the State of Goa operationalised, thereby becoming the first State in India to do so.

[Read Collegium Statement]