In A First, Four Women High Court Chief Justices In India
Here's something worth filing away for your GK paper. For the first time ever, India has four women serving as High Court Chief Justices at the same time. That's Justice Sunita Agarwal in Gujarat, Justice Revati Mohite Dere in Meghalaya, Justice Lisa Gill in Andhra Pradesh, and now Justice Meenakshi Madan Rai taking charge at Patna. So basically it's a small but real shift in how the higher judiciary looks. What this means for you is that gender representation in courts is a live theme, and Article 217 governs how High Court judges get appointed. Bottom line for the exam, remember these four names and the Article.
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.
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 perthe data placedby 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.]