NEW DELHI — In a significant move to overhaul the leadership of the higher judiciary, the Supreme Court Collegium, led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, has recommended the appointment of Justice Lisa Gill of the Punjab and Haryana High Court as the next Chief Justice of the Andhra Pradesh High Court. The decision, taken on Thursday, February 26, 2026, marks the first implementation of a new Collegium policy designed to ensure smoother administrative transitions within India’s High Courts.
Justice Gill is slated to succeed the incumbent Chief Justice Dhiraj Singh Thakur, who will demit office on April 25, 2026. Under the Collegium’s newly established “Policy on Advance Transfer,” Justice Gill will first join the Andhra Pradesh High Court as a puisne judge. This early transfer aims to allow the future Chief Justice to become well-conversant with the specific affairs and administrative nuances of the court at least two months before formally assuming the top post.
An alumna of Panjab University with both LLB and LLM degrees, Justice Gill has a distinguished legal career spanning over three decades. After enrolling as an advocate in 1990, she built a robust practice at the Punjab and Haryana High Court, specializing in criminal, civil, service, revenue, and constitutional matters. She was elevated to the bench on March 31, 2014. Her transition to Andhra Pradesh is seen as a strategic move to leverage her extensive judicial experience in a new jurisdiction.
In a parallel recommendation, the Collegium has also proposed Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari, currently serving in the Kerala High Court, as the new Chief Justice of the Madras High Court. This appointment is set to take effect following the retirement of the current Chief Justice on March 5, 2026. Furthermore, to address critical vacancies in the regional judiciary, the Collegium approved the names of nine advocates for appointment as judges of the Patna High Court, which currently operates with only 38 judges against a sanctioned strength of 53.
The advocates recommended for elevation to the Patna High Court are Md. Nadim Seraj, Ranjan Kumar Jha, Kumar Manish, Sanjeev Kumar, Girijish Kumar, Alok Kumar, Raj Kumar, Rana Vikram Singh, and Vikash Kumar. These appointments are expected to significantly bolster the efficiency and quality of justice delivery in Bihar, where a high pendency of cases has been a long-standing concern for the legal community.
