List of female chief justices in India

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Last edited April 27, 2026



This is a list of women who have served as chief justices of the high courts of India, arranged in chronological order.

The first woman to be appointed as the chief justice of an Indian high court was Leila Seth, who assumed office at the Himachal Pradesh High Court on 5 August 1991. The Kerala High Court and the Madras High Court have each had the highest number of female chief justices, with three appointments each.

Manjula Chellur served as the chief justice of three different high courts and holds the record for the longest combined tenure among female chief justices, exceeding five years. In contrast, Sonia Gokani had the shortest tenure, serving for just nine days.

Till 10 January 2026, there have been 19 women chief justices across 14 high courts. At present, two women serve as chief justices among the 25 high courts chief justices in India.

List of female chief justices

Key

Template:Legend inline Incumbent

No. Portrait Name Date of appointment Date of retirement Tenure High Court Note
1
File:Leila Seth (cropped).jpg
 Leila Seth Template:Dts Template:Dts Template:Age in years and days Himachal Pradesh High Court First female chief justice of a high court in India.[1]
2 File:Blank.svg Kanta Kumari Bhatnagar Template:Dts Template:Dts Template:Age in years and days Madras High Court First female chief justice of the Madras High Court.[2]
3 File:Blank.svg Sujata Manohar Template:Dts Template:Dts Template:Age in years and days Bombay High Court First female chief justice of the Bombay High Court and the Kerala High Court. Later elevated as a judge to the Supreme Court of India.[3]
Template:Dts Template:Dts Template:Age in years and days Kerala High Court
4 File:Blank.svg K. K. Usha Template:Dts Template:Dts Template:Age in years and days Kerala High Court [4]
5 File:Blank.svg Gyan Sudha Misra Template:Dts Template:Dts Template:Age in years and days Jharkhand High Court First female chief justice of the Jharkhand High Court. Later elevated as a judge to the Supreme Court of India.[5]
6 File:Blank.svg Rekha Doshit Template:Dts Template:Dts Template:Age in years and days Patna High Court First female chief justice of the Patna High Court.[6]
7 File:Blank.svg Manjula Chellur Template:Dts Template:Dts Template:Age in years and days Kerala High Court First female chief justice of the Calcutta High Court.[7]
Template:Dts Template:Dts Template:Age in years and days Calcutta High Court
Template:Dts Template:Dts Template:Age in years and days Bombay High Court
8 File:Blank.svg T. Meena Kumari Template:Dts Template:Dts Template:Age in years and days Meghalaya High Court First chief justice of the Meghalaya High Court.[8]
9 File:Justice R. Banumathi.jpg R. Banumathi Template:Dts Template:Dts Template:Age in years and days Jharkhand High Court Later elevated as a judge to the Supreme Court of India.[9]
10 File:Blank.svg Gorla Rohini Template:Dts Template:Dts Template:Age in years and days Delhi High Court First female chief justice of the Delhi High Court.[10]
11 File:Justice Indira Banerjee.jpg Indira Banerjee Template:Dts Template:Dts Template:Age in years and days Madras High Court Later elevated as a judge to the Supreme Court of India.[11]
12 File:Blank.svg Abhilasha Kumari Template:Dts Template:Dts Template:Age in years and days Manipur High Court First female chief justice of the Manipur High Court.[12]
13 File:Blank.svg Gita Mittal Template:Dts Template:Dts Template:Age in years and days Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court First female chief justice of the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court.[13]
14 File:Blank.svg Vijaya Tahilramani Template:Dts Template:Dts Template:Age in years and days Madras High Court [14]
15 File:Justice Hima Kohli.jpg Hima Kohli Template:Dts Template:Dts Template:Age in years and days Telangana High Court First female chief justice of the Telangana High Court. Later elevated as a judge to the Supreme Court of India.[15]
16 File:Blank.svg Sonia Gokani Template:Dts Template:Dts Template:Age in years and days Gujarat High Court First female chief justice of the Gujarat High Court.[16]
17 File:Blank.svg Sunita Agarwal Template:Dts Incumbent Template:Age in years and days Gujarat High Court [17]
18 File:Blank.svg Ritu Bahri Template:Dts Template:Dts Template:Age in years and days Uttarakhand High Court First female chief justice of the Uttarakhand High Court.[18]
19 File:Blank.svg Revati Prashant Mohite Dere Template:Dts Incumbent Template:Age in years and days Meghalaya High Court [19]
20 File:Blank.svg Lisa Gill Template:Dts Incumbent Template:Age in years and days Andhra Pradesh First Female Chief Justice of Andhra Pradesh High Court.[20]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 5th August 1991: Justice Leila Seth Becomes the First Indian Woman Chief Justice of a state High Court(5 August 2013).
  2. ↑ Former Madras CJ passes away. The Hindu(15 August 2011). Retrieved 30 July 2017.
  3. ↑ Official Website of High Court of Bombay.
  4. ↑ Chief Justice KK Usha.
  5. ↑ JharkhandHighCourt. Retrieved 15 January 2012.
  6. ↑ Woman Chief Justice for Patna High Court. The Hindu(17 June 2010).
  7. ↑ Manjula Chellur to become first woman Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court; Assumes office on August 5. Bar and Bench(23 July 2014). Retrieved 24 July 2014.
  8. ↑ Meena Kumari sworn in as first chief justice of Meghalaya HC. The Hindu(23 March 2013). Retrieved 21 January 2014.
  9. ↑ http://supremecourtofindia.nic.in/judges/sjud/rbanumathi.htm R. Banumatji, profile
  10. ↑ Delhi gets its first woman Chief Justice. The Hindu(22 April 2014).
  11. ↑ Indira Banerjee appointed Chief Justice of Madras High Court. The Hindu(31 March 2017).
  12. ↑ Justice Abhilasha Kumari is Manipur HC's first woman chief justice. Hindustan Times(9 February 2018). Retrieved 17 September 2018.
  13. ↑ Justice Geeta Mittal is 1st woman judge of J&K HC; Justice Menon to head Delhi HC. The Economic Times(4 August 2018). Retrieved 25 June 2020.
  14. ↑ Justice VK Tahilramani Appointed As Chief Justice Of Madras High Court. Live Law(4 August 2018). Retrieved 6 August 2018.
  15. ↑ Justice Hima Kohli takes charge as 1st woman CJ of Telangana high court. Hindustan Times(7 January 2021). Retrieved 7 January 2021.
  16. ↑ High Court of Gujarat. gujarathighcourt.nic.in. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
  17. ↑ Hon'ble Mrs. Justice Sunita Agarwal. Allahabad High Court.
  18. ↑ Justice Ritu Bahri becomes first woman chief justice of Uttarakhand high court. Hindustan Times(4 February 2024).
  19. ↑ Centre clears appointment of Bombay HC Justice Revati Mohite Dere as Meghalaya High Court Chief Justice, Bench, Bar &. Bar and Bench - Indian Legal news(2026-01-01). Retrieved 2026-01-01.
  20. ↑ Lisa Gill appointed Chief Justice of A.P. High Court, Hindu, The. The Hindu(2026-04-23). Retrieved 2026-04-23.
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