In a historic first for the apex judiciary, four high courts across the country are set to have female chief justices simultaneously after the Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant recommended Sikkim High Court judge Justice Meenakshi M Rai be appointed Chief Justice of the Patna High Court.
The bench, in a decision passed on May 22, recommended the elevation of Justice Rai consequent to the retirement of the current Chief Justice of Patna High Court, Justice Sangam Kumar Sahu, on June 4.
“The Division Bench of the Supreme Court in its meeting held on May 22, 2026 recommended the appointment of Mrs Justice Meenakshi M Rai, Judge of the High Court of Sikkim as Chief Justice of the Patna High Court, following the retirement of the incumbent Chief Justice on June 4, 2026,” the decision said. The bench also included Justices Vikram Nath and JK Maheshwari.
With the appointment of Justice Rai, the Indian High Courts will, for the first time, have four female Chief Justices simultaneously. Other women currently heading the high courts are Justice Sunita Agarwal of the Gujarat High Court, Justice Revati Mohit Dhere of the Meghalaya High Court, and Justice Lisa Gill of the Andhra Pradesh High Court. There are 25 High Courts in India.
This development represents another milestone in the slow but evident increase in women’s representation in the senior judiciary, an issue repeatedly pointed out by judges, lawyers and parliamentary bodies.
According to data placed in Parliament by the Federal Law Ministry earlier this year, 170 women judges have been appointed to various high courts since 2014, including 96 in the last five years alone, while six women were promoted to the Supreme Court during the same period. The government stated that appointments are made only after recommendations from the Supreme Court Council and added that higher courts are encouraged to consider female candidates in order to enhance social diversity in the judiciary.
This would certainly be the second known case of four women simultaneously presiding over the country’s high courts; However, in the previous case in 2017, one of the four was serving as acting Chief Justice and not as a regular Chief Justice appointed on the recommendation of the Supreme Court bench.
Justice Rai, who has been serving as a judge of the Sikkim High Court since April 2015, is among the senior women judges currently serving in the Constitutional Courts. Born in July 1964, she is the daughter of former Sikkim Home Minister Madan Mohan Rasili. She joined the Delhi Bar Council in 1990 and practiced before the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court before returning to Sikkim.
She also served as acting Chief Justice of the Sikkim High Court but this period was not without controversy. In a development previously reported by HT, Justice Rai in December 2025 withdrew some post-retirement facilities extended to her predecessor Justice Biswanath Sumadheer, sparking a debate within judicial circles over agreements relating to retired chief justices and administrative fitness. Justice Rai not only overhauled the registry of the High Court and District Judiciary through transfers and new appointments, but also directed the immediate withdrawal of security and facilities, including official vehicle and driver, which had been provided to Justice Somadheer.
The controversy at the time reached the Supreme Court. CJI Kant and other senior judges of the Supreme Court, especially Justice JK Maheshwari who served as Chief Justice of the Sikkim High Court for about eight months before his elevation to the Supreme Court in August 2021, took note of the situation and had to quickly intervene to calm what was beginning to emerge as a serious institutional crisis, especially in view of the impending eviction of Justice Somadder and the wider ramifications of the other orders.
This incident sparked a debate about the extent of powers exercised by acting chief justices in matters relating to administrative privileges and protocol.
The recommendation also gains importance because the Patna High Court, one of the oldest constitutional courts in the country, has historically witnessed limited representation of women in senior judicial leadership positions.
