This Article is a consolidated list of former acting chief justices of all high courts of India. This list includes all known acting Chief Justices as official websites of all high courts except Jammu & Kashmir High Court and Punjab & Haryana High Court do not maintain list of former acting chief justices, thus compiled data about all the former acting chief justices is not readily available. Therefore, this compiled list is made from various distinct sources giving information about the acting chief justices of the relevant time. Due care has been taken in making this list as exhaustive as possible but information about acting chief justices in pre independence era cannot be found reliably therefore list includes acting chief justices post independence.

Further this list includes only those acting chief justices who had been appointed when there was vacancy in permanent chief justice post. This does not include such acting chief justices who had been appointed to fill in the post when the permanent chief justice went on leave or appointed as acting Governors of respective states.

Colour Key

Symbol Key Elevated directly to Supreme Court of India from position of Acting Chief Justice Resigned Died in office Immediately elevated as CJ of other High Court Transferred as ACJ from other High Court

Acting chief justices elevated to Supreme Court of India includes those who were elevated to supreme court at any point of their career.

Date of initial appointment - Date of first appointment as High court judge

CJ - Chief Justice

Allahabad High Court The Allahabad High Court was established on under Indian High Courts Act 1861 and the first verifiably known acting chief justice of the high court was Sir Iqbal Ahmed appointed in 1941.

For Permanent chief justices

NameImageFrom(Reason)To(Reason)TenureParent High CourtDate of initial AppointmentRef.Iqbal Ahmad(Death of CJ John Gibb Thom)(Became permanent)AllahabadM. N. Beg(Elevation of CJ V. Bhargava to SCI)(Became permanent)AllahabadMahesh Narain Shukla(Transfer of CJ Satish Chandra to Calcutta)(Became permanent)AllahabadHridai Narain Seth(Retirement of CJ M. N. Shukla)(Became permanent)AllahabadN. D. Ojha(Transfer of CJ H. N. Seth to P&H)(Appointment of K. J. Shetty as new CJ)AllahabadDwarka Nath Jha(Elevation of CJ K. J. Shetty to SCI)(Became permanent)AllahabadAmitav Banerji(Retirement of CJ D. N. Jha)(Became permanent)AllahabadK. C. Agarwal(Retirement of CJ B. N. Katju)(Appointment of B. P. Jeevan Reddy as new CJ)AllahabadPrem Shankar Gupta(Elevation of CJ B. P. Jeevan Reddy to SCI)(Appointment of M. K. Mukherjee as new CJ)AllahabadSatish Chandra Mathur(Transfer of CJ M. K. Mukherjee to Bombay)(Himself elevated as 16th CJ of J&K)AllahabadViney Krishna Khanna(Elevation of ACJ S. C. Mathur as 16th CJ of J&K)(Appointment of Sarvinder Singh Sodhi as new CJ)AllahabadV. N. Khare(Retirement of CJ A. Lakshman Rao)(Himself elevated as 29th CJ of Calcutta)AllahabadUday Pratap Singh(Elevation of ACJ V. N. Khare as 29th CJ of Calcutta)(Appointment of Debi Priya Mohapatra as new CJ)PatnaBrijesh Kumar(Elevation of CJ Debi Priya Mohapatra to SCI)(Appointment of N. K. Mitra as new CJ)AllahabadD. S. Sinha(Retirement of CJ N. K. Mitra)(Transfer of S. K. Sen as ACJ)AllahabadS. K. Sen(Transferred as ACJ)(Became permanent)CalcuttaGovind Prasad Mathur(Retirement of CJ S. K. Sen)(Himself elevated to SCI)AllahabadSatya Prakash Srivastava(Elevation of ACJ G. P. Mathur to SCI)(Appointment of T. Chatterjee as new CJ)AllahabadMarkandey Katju(Elevation of CJ T. Chatterjee to SCI)(Himself elevated as 32nd CJ of Madras)AllahabadVishnu Sahai(Elevation of ACJ Markandey Katju as 32nd CJ of Madras)(Retirement as ACJ)AllahabadS. R. Alam(Retirement of ACJ Vishnu Sahai)(Appointment of A. N. Ray as new CJ)Patna(Transfer of CJ A. N. Ray to Sikkim)(Appointment of H. L. Gokhale as new CJ)(Transfer of CJ H. L. Gokhale to Madras)(Appointment of C. K. Prasad as new CJ)Amitava Lala(Elevation of CJ C. K. Prasad to SCI)(Appointment of F. I. Rebello as new CJ)Calcutta(Retirement of CJ F. I. Rebello)(Transfer of MP CJ S. R. Alam as new CJ)(Retirement of CJ S. R. Alam)(Retirement as ACJ)S. K. Singh(Retirement of ACJ A. Lala)(Became permanent)PatnaL. K. Mohapatra(Elevation of CJ S. K. Singh to SCI)(Himself transferred as ACJ of Manipur)OrissaSheo Kumar Singh(Transfer of ACJ L. K. Mohapatra as ACJ of Manipur)(Appointment of D. Y. Chandrachud as new CJ)AllahabadVimlesh Kumar Shukla(Elevation of CJ D. Y. Chandrachud to SCI)(Appointment of D. B. Bhosale as new CJ)AllahabadGovind Mathur(Retirement of CJ D. B. Bhosale)(Became permanent)RajasthanSanjay Yadav(Retirement of CJ Govind Mathur)(Became permanent)Madhya PradeshM. N. Bhandari(Retirement of CJ Sanjay Yadav)(Appointment of Rajesh Bindal as new CJ)RajasthanPritinker Diwaker(Elevation of CJ Rajesh Bindal to SCI)(Became permanent)ChhattisgarhM. K. Gupta(Retirement of CJ Pritinker Diwaker)(Appointment of Arun Bhansali as new CJ)Allahabad

Andhra Pradesh High Court The Andhra Pradesh High Court was established on under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014 with C. Praveen Kumar as its inaugural acting chief justice.

For Permanent chief justices

NameImageFrom(Reason)To(Reason)TenureParent High CourtDate of initial AppointmentC. Praveen Kumar(Creation of New HC)(Appointment of J. K. Maheshwari as new CJ)Andhra PradeshAkula Venkata Sesha Sai(Elevation of CJ P. K. Mishra to SCI)(Appointment of D. S. Thakur as new CJ)Andhra Pradesh

Bombay High Court The Bombay High Court was established on under the Indian High Courts Act 1861 and the first verifiably known acting chief justice of the high court was M. C. Chagla appointed in 1947. Website of Maharashtra Judicial Academy contains list of its former patron in chiefs who always had been the chief justice of Bombay High Court (whether acting or permanent). Thus the list contained in this website would serve as primary reference for acting chief justices after 2009. For Permanent chief justices NameImageFrom(Reason)To(Reason)TenureParent High CourtDate of initial AppointmentRef.M. C. Chagla(Resignation of CJ Leonard Stone)(Became permanent)BombayY. S. Tambe(Death of CJ H. K. Chainani)(Became permanent)NagpurV. S. Deshpande(Retirement of CJ Balkrishna Narhar Deshmukh)(Became permanent)BombayD. P. Madon(Retirement of CJ V. S. Deshpande)(Became permanent)BombayM. N. Chandurkar(Elevation of CJ D. P. Madon to SCI)(Became permanent)BombayM. H. Kania(Transfer of CJ M. N. Chandurkar to Madras)(Transfer of Undivided AP CJ K. M. Reddy as new CJ)Bombay(Retirement of CJ K. M. Reddy)(Became permanent)Sharadchandra Krishnaprasd Desai(Elevation of CJ M. H. Kania to SCI)(Himself appointed as Acting Governor of Maharashtra)BombayC. S. Dharmadhikari(Appointment of ACJ S. K. Desai as Acting Governor of Maharashtra)(Transfer of Calcutta CJ C. Mookerjee as new CJ)BombaySubhash Chhaganlal Pratap(Retirement of CJ C. Mookerjee)(Transfer of Calcutta CJ P. D. Desai as new CJ)BombaySujata Manohar(Retirement of CJ P. D. Desai)(Transfer of Allahabad CJ M. K. Mukherjee as new CJ)Bombay(Elevation of CJ M. K. Mukherjee to SCI)(Became permanent)Madhav Laxman Pendse(Resignation of CJ A. M. Bhattacharjee)(Himself elevated as 16th CJ of Karnataka)BombayA. C. Agarwal(Elevation of CJ M. B. Shah to SCI)(Appointment of Y. K. Sabharwal as new CJ)BombayManohar Bansiji Ghodeswar(Elevation of CJ Y. K. Sabharwal to SCI)(Retirement as ACJ)BombayBhagwati Prasad Saraf(Retirement of ACJ M. B. Ghodeswar)(Himself elevated as 20th CJ of J&K)GauhatiNiranjan Janmashanker Pandya(Elevation of ACJ B. P. Saraf as 20th CJ of J&K)(Appointment of B. P. Singh as new CJ)GujaratGulabrao Deorao Patil(Elevation of CJ B. P. Singh to SCI)(Transfer of HP CJ C. K. Thakker as new CJ)BombayA. P. Shah(Elevation of CJ C. K. Thakker to SCI)(Appointment of Dalveer Bhandari as new CJ)BombayVishwanath Gopal Palshikar(Elevation of CJ Dalveer Bhandari to SCI)(Appointment of K. R. Vyas as new CJ)Bombay(Retirement of CJ K. R. Vyas)(Appointment of H. S. Bedi as new CJ)H. L. Gokhale(Elevation of CJ H. S. Bedi to SCI)(Himself elevated as 40th CJ of Allahabad)BombayJ. N. Patel(Elevation of ACJ H. L. Gokhale as 40th CJ of Allahabad)(Appointment of Swatanter Kumar as new CJ)Bombay(Elevation of CJ Swatanter Kumar to SCI)(Transfer of Undivided AP CJ A. R. Dave as new CJ)(Elevation of CJ A. R. Dave to SCI)(Transfer of Calcutta CJ M. S. Shah as new CJ)V. K. Tahilramani(Retirement of CJ M. S. Shah)(Transfer of Orissa CJ D. H. Waghela as new CJ)Bombay(Retirement of CJ D. H. Waghela)(Transfer of Calcutta CJ Manjula Chellur as new CJ)(Retirement of CJ Manjula Chellur)(Herself elevated as 40th CJ of Madras)N. H. Patil(Elevation of ACJ V. K. Tahilramani as 40th CJ of Madras)(Became permanent)BombayB. P. Dharmadhikari(Retirement of CJ Pradeep Nandrajog)(Became permanent)BombayS. V. Gangapurwala(Elevation of CJ Dipankar Datta to SCI)(Appointment of R. D. Dhanuka as new CJ)BombayN. M. Jamdar(Retirement of CJ R. D. Dhanuka)(Appointment of D. K. Upadhyaya as new CJ)BombayShree Chandrashekhar(Elevation of CJ Alok Aradhe to SCI)(Became permanent)JharkhandR. V. Ghuge(Elevation of CJ Shree Chandrashekhar to SCI)(Appointment of M. C. Tripathi as new CJ)Bombay

Calcutta High Court The Calcutta High Court was established on under the Indian High Courts Act 1861 and the first verifiably known acting chief justice of the high court was P. B. Mukharji appointed in 1970. For Permanent chief justices