The Central government on Friday notified the appointment of Punjab and Haryana High Court Justice Lisa Gill, as a judge of the Andhra Pradesh High Court. The Union Law Ministry also gave a nod and notified the appointment of Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharamadhikari as Chief Justice of Madras HC. He was sworn in for the coveted post on Friday amid a ceremonial welcome by the High Court. An announcement in this regard was made by the Union Minister of State (I/C) for Law & Justice, Arjun Ram Meghwal, in a post on X.
"In exercise of the power conferred by the Constitution of India, the President of India, after consultation with Chief Justice of India, has transferred Ms. Justice Lisa Gill, Judge, High Court of Punjab and Haryana to be a Judge of High Court of Andhra Pradesh. I convey my best wishes to her," Meghwal said.
Justice Gill will initially serve as a puisne judge of the Andhra Pradesh High Court and next month, she is likely to take over as its Chief Justice, upon the retirement of incumbent Chief Justice Dhiraj Singh Thakur on April 24. The Central government had approved his appointment earlier this week following a recommendation made by the Supreme Court Collegium at its meeting held on February 26.
The early transfer of Justice Lisa Gill is in line with a new policy recently announced by the Supreme Court Collegium. The decision to first transfer and then elevate Justice Gill was taken by the Collegium at a meeting held on February 26.
"The Collegium has resolved to recommend transfer of Justice Lisa Gill, Judge, High Court of Punjab and Haryana to the High Court of Andhra Pradesh and for her appointment as the Chief Justice of that High Court with effect from the date the vacancy would arise," the top court said in a recent statement.
Under the new policy, a judge proposed to take over as Chief Justice of a High Court may be transferred well in advance—preferably two months before the vacancy arises—so that the incoming Chief Justice becomes familiar with the functioning and administrative affairs of the High Court before formally assuming charge. Justice Gill is an alumni of the Department of Laws, Panjab University, having pursued BA LLB (three years) and LLM from there. She was appointed as a judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court on March 31, 2014.
Meanwhile, Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari was sworn in as the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court on Friday. Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi administered the oath of office at a ceremony held at the Raj Bhavan in Chennai.
Justice Dharmadhikari succeeds Justice Manindra Mohan Srivastava, who retired as Chief Justice on March 5. Prior to his elevation, Justice Dharmadhikari was serving as a judge of the Kerala High Court. His parent High Court is the Madhya Pradesh High Court. Justice Dharmadhikari's appointment comes on the day of retirement of the incumbent Madras High Court Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Srivastava (March 5).
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