judicial-milestone-4-women-hc-chief-justices-serve-simultaneously

In a first, India now has four women serving as Chief Justices of High Courts simultaneously, marking a significant milestone for gender representation in the higher judiciary.

 

India has never had a female Chief Justice of India (CJI). However, the country has made significant strides in female representation across the High Courts. In a historic judicial milestone, four women—including Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Meenakshi Madan Rai will be simultaneously serving as Chief Justices across various High Courts.

 

 With the appointment of Justice Meenakshi Madan Rai from the Sikkim High Court as the Chief Justice of the Patna High Court, this significant feat has been achieved. The other women Chief Justices are Justice Sunita Agarwal of the Gujarat High Court, Justice Revati Mohite Dere of the Meghalaya High Court, and Justice Lisa Gill of the Andhra Pradesh High Court.

 

 Justice Sunita Agarwal, from the Allahabad High Court, has been the Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court since July 23, 2023. Justice Revati Mohite Dere, from the Bombay High Court, was appointed as the Chief Justice of the Meghalaya High Court on January 10, 2026.

 

Justice Lisa Gill, from the Punjab and Haryana High Court, became the Chief Justice of Andhra Pradesh High Court on April 25, 2026. As per the data placed by the Government before Parliament earlier this year, as on February 2026, there were 116 women judges out of a total working strength of 781 judges across the High Courts, accounting for roughly 14.85% of the sitting High Court judges.

 

 Previously, India had seen at most three permanent women Chief Justices of High Courts at the same time. While there were four women heading High Courts in 2018, one of them was serving as Acting Chief Justice [Justice Indira Banerjee then the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court, Justice Manjula Chellur then the Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court, Justice G Rohini then the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court, and Justice Nishita Nirmal Mhatre the acting Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court.

 

Justice Leila Seth created history by becoming the first female Chief Justice of an Indian High Court (Himachal Pradesh High Court) in 1991.As per the prevailing rule of seniority, Justice B.V. Nagarathna is scheduled to become the first female Chief Justice of India, though her historic tenure will be a brief 36 days.