Supreme Court Collegium recommends Chief Justices for the Gujarat, Delhi, Telangana and Uttarakhand High Courts, and has cleared nine names for the Bombay and Madhya Pradesh High Courts, by resolutions of October 26, 2026.
New Delhi: Four sitting High Court judges have been recommended by the Supreme Court Collegium for appointment as Chief Justices of the Gujarat, Delhi, Telangana and Uttarakhand High Courts. The Collegium has also approved the appointment of two judges for the Bombay High Court and seven advocates as judges of the Madhya Pradesh High Court.
Four courts, four names
For Gujarat, the pick is Justice Manash Ranjan Pathak, whose parent High Court is Gauhati and who is at present serving in the Gujarat High Court. For Delhi, it is Justice P. Sam Koshy, whose parent High Court is Chhattisgarh and who is at present serving in the Telangana High Court.
Telangana is to get Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty of the Calcutta High Court, and Uttarakhand Justice Sudhir Singh of the Patna High Court.
The acting arrangements in place
Earlier this month, as their Chief Justices moved to the Supreme Court, the Union Government notified acting Chief Justices for three of these courts under Article 223 of the Constitution. Justice Nitin Wasudeo Sambre took over in Delhi from Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya, Justice Manash Ranjan Pathak in Gujarat from Justice Sunita Agarwal, and Justice P. Sam Koshy in Telangana from Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh.
If the Union Government accepts the resolution, permanent Chief Justices would replace the acting arrangements in Delhi, Gujarat and Telangana, and the Chief Justice post of the Uttarakhand High Court would be filled. A Collegium recommendation takes effect only when the Government issues a notification of the appointments.
Bombay and Madhya Pradesh benches
The Collegium has approved Ajay Sharma, Judicial Member of the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) at Mumbai, and Advocate Vaibhav Anant Sugdare for the Bombay High Court.
Seven advocates have been approved for the Madhya Pradesh High Court: Dr. Vivek Sharan, Rajesh Kumar Shukla, Kanak Gaharwar alias Kanak Lata Singh, Bhakti Vyas, Shreyas Pandit, Mrinal Elker alias Mrinal Mazumdar and Avinash Zargar. The resolution says the Collegium “approved the proposal for appointment” of these advocates; it does not state the reasons or the present strength and vacancies of the High Court.
Subject: Supreme Court Collegium resolutions on appointment of Chief Justices and judges of High Courts
Date of Resolutions: October 26, 2026
Recommended as Chief Justices: Justice Manash Ranjan Pathak (Gujarat), Justice P. Sam Koshy (Delhi), Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty (Telangana), Justice Sudhir Singh (Uttarakhand)