High Court Chief Justices: 7 Acting CJs, 5 more retirements in 2026

As of July 20, 2026, 7 of India's 25 High Courts are being run by Acting Chief Justices (CJs) - Bombay, Calcutta, Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh, Madhya Pradesh, Patna, Punjab & Haryana and Rajasthan.

This is the result of not just routine transfers and retirements, but also the government's decision to expand the Supreme Court's sanctioned strength from 33 to 37 judges (excluding the Chief Justice of India) through the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Ordinance, 2026.

The promulgation of the ordinance on May 17 set in motion a host of elevations to the Supreme Court, which explains the current number of Acting CJs.

On May 27, the Supreme Court Collegium headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant recommended the elevation of four High Court Chief Justices and a Senior Advocate to its own bench - Justice Sheel Nagu, Justice Shree Chandrashekhar, Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva, Justice Arun Palli and Senior Advocate V Mohana.

The Central government acted quickly to clear the recommendation and by June 2, all 5 were sworn in to be judges of India's top court. But the quick pace of these developments left 4 High Courts with no Chief Justice.

At the time of elevation to the Supreme Court, Justice Nagu was the Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Justice Chandrashekhar was the Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court, Justice Sachdeva was the Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court and Justice Palli was the Chief Justice of the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh.

Whenever a Chief Justice post becomes vacant without an appointee confirmed by the usual Collegium process, the President, under Article 223 of the Indian Constitution, can appoint an Acting CJ to perform the duties of the Chief Justice.

As a result, the following 4 High Courts are helmed by Acting CJs:

1. Bombay High Court- Justice RV Ghuge;

2. Punjab & Haryana High Court- Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra;

3. Madhya Pradesh High Court- Justice Vivek Rusia; and

4. Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court- Justice Sanjeev Kumar

The other 3 vacancies are due to expected retirements of the incumbent Chief Justices of those Courts.

Justice Sudhir Singh was appointed as Acting CJ of the Patna High Court after the recent retirement of Chief Justice Meenakshi Madan Rai.

Similarly, Justice Sanjeev Prakash Sharma and Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty were appointed as Acting CJs of the Rajasthan and Calcutta High Courts respectively upon the retirement of its previous Chief Justices.

With 5 more High Court Chief Justices due to retire by the end of the year, the Acting CJ count is unlikely to hit zero any time soon.

The following sitting Chief Justices are set to retire before the end of 2026:

1. Justice Ramesh Sinha - Chhattisgarh High Court;

2. Justice MS Sonak - Jharkhand High Court;

3. Justice Harish Tandon - Orissa High Court;

4. Justice Sanjeev Prakash Sharma (ACJ) - Rajasthan High Court; and

5. Justice Manoj Kumar Gupta - Uttarakhand High Court

Of them, Justice Sinha will retire from service first on September 4 followed by Justice Sharma (ACJ) on September 26.

The Collegium may need to act quickly to ensure that these posts have confirmed Chief Justices rather than ACJs, especially considering its own new policy.

In February 2026, the Supreme Court Collegium adopted an advance-transfer policy, resolving that a judge who is in line to become a High Court Chief Justice may be transferred to that Court about 2 months before the post officially falls vacant.

The policy was intended to give the incoming Chief Justice time to get familiar with the court’s functioning and administrative setup, so that when the current Chief Justice retires, the transition is smooth and there is no disruption in the court’s work.

Apart from the scheduled retirements of the High Court Chief Justices, two judges of the Supreme Court are also expected to demit office in 2026 - Justices Sanjay Karol and Satish Chandra Sharma. There are also 2 other vacancies in the Supreme Court as it is currently functioning with 35 judges as opposed to the new sanctioned strength of 37 judges.

In view of ever-mounting pendency, these 4 vacancies will likely be filled up this year as well.

Elevation of a High Court Chief Justice to the Supreme Court is governed by the Collegium's own formula which includes consideration of national seniority, merit, integrity, diversity and representation. Owing to the opacity of the Collegium's process, any list of likely names is informed more by speculation than certainty.

Justice Tandon (Orissa) tops the national seniority list among High Court Chief Justices, which would ordinarily make him a strong candidate on merit of seniority alone. However, he is due to retire in November 2026.

Justice Sinha (Chhattisgarh), ranked 4th in seniority, is retiring even sooner, making his elevation in the next couple of months a very tight fit.

As things stand, the Supreme Court Collegium, which currently comprises Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justices Vikram Nath, BV Nagarathna, MM Sundresh and PS Narasimha, has its task cut out for it this year.