Supreme Court Collegium recommends Justice Meenakshi M Rai as Patna High Court Chief Justice

The Supreme Court Collegium has recommended the appointment of Sikkim High Court Justice Meenakshi Madan Rai as the next Chief Justice of the Patna High Court.

The recommendation was made in the Collegium meeting held on May 22, 2026.

Chief Justice Sangam Kumar Sahoo is currently serving as the Chief Justice of Patna High Court and Justice Rai's appointment will take effect following his retirement on June 4, 2026.

Born on July 12, 1964, Justice Rai completed her schooling in Gangtok and Kurseong before pursuing Political Science (Honours) from Lady Shriram College, Delhi University. She later obtained her LLB degree from campus Law Centre, Delhi University in 1989.

She enrolled with the Bar Council of Delhi in 1990 and practiced before the Delhi High Court and Supreme Court before joining the Sikkim Judicial Service in December 1990 as Judicial Magistrate First Class-cum-Civil Judge, becoming the first woman from Sikkim to be appointed to the post.

During her judicial career, she served in several positions including Chief Judicial Magistrate, District and Sessions Judge, Registrar General of the Sikkim High Court and Principal District and Sessions Judge.

She also handled matters under special laws including the NDPS Act, 1985, Sikkim Anti-drugs Act, 2006, Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, MACT, Scheduled Castes & Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

Justice Rai was elevated as a permanent judge of the Sikkim High Court on April 15, 2015, becoming the first woman from the state to be elevated to the High Court Bench.

She also served as the Acting Chief Justice of the Sikkim High Court on multiple occasions.

[Read Collegium Recommendation]