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 12 July 2026, there have been 21 women chief justices across 15 high courts. At present, three women serve as chief justices among the 25 high courts chief justices in India.
List of female chief justices Key Incumbent
No. Portrait Name Date of appointment Date of retirement Tenure High Court Note 1 Leila Seth Himachal Pradesh High Court First female chief justice of a high court in India. 2 Kanta Kumari Bhatnagar Madras High Court First female chief justice of Madras High Court. 3 Sujata Manohar Bombay High Court First female chief justice of the High Courts of Bombay and Kerala. Later elevated to Supreme Court of India. Kerala High Court 4 K. K. Usha Kerala High Court 5 Gyan Sudha Misra Jharkhand High Court First female chief justice of Jharkhand High Court. Later elevated to Supreme Court of India. 6 Rekha Doshit Patna High Court First female chief justice of Patna High Court. 7 Manjula Chellur Kerala High Court First female chief justice of Calcutta High Court. Calcutta High Court Bombay High Court 8 T. Meena Kumari Meghalaya High Court First chief justice of Meghalaya High Court. 9 R. Banumathi Jharkhand High Court Later elevated to Supreme Court of India.http://supremecourtofindia.nic.in/judges/sjud/rbanumathi.htm R. Banumatji, profile 10 Gorla Rohini Delhi High Court First female chief justice of Delhi High Court. 11 Indira Banerjee Madras High Court Later elevated to Supreme Court of India. 12 Abhilasha Kumari Manipur High Court First female chief justice of Manipur High Court. 13 Gita Mittal Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court First female chief justice of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court. 14 Vijaya Tahilramani Madras High Court 15 Hima Kohli Telangana High Court First female chief justice of Telangana High Court. Later elevated to Supreme Court of India. 16 Sonia Gokani Gujarat High Court First female chief justice of Gujarat High Court. 17 Sunita Agarwal 5 October 2026 Gujarat High Court 18 Ritu Bahri Uttarakhand High Court First female chief justice of Uttarakhand High Court. 19 Revati Prashant Mohite Dere Incumbent Meghalaya High Court 20 Lisa Gill Incumbent Andhra Pradesh First Female Chief Justice of Andhra Pradesh High Court. 21 Meenakshi Madan Rai Patna High Court
See also List of female governors in India List of female lieutenant governors and administrators in India List of female chief ministers in India List of female deputy chief ministers in India List of female legislative speakers and chairpersons in India List of female opposition leaders in India List of current Indian chief justices List of chief justices of India List of sitting judges of the Supreme Court of India List of former judges of the Supreme Court of India List of female judges of the Supreme Court of India List of sitting judges of the high courts of India List of first women lawyers and judges in Asia
References