At its meeting on 6 August 2026, the Supreme Court Collegium headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant cleared four Chief Justice appointments and, in a separate resolution the same day, recommended the transfer of two more judges. Between them, the two resolutions touch six High Courts.

The Chief Justice recommendations
Judge Present posting Recommended as Chief Justice of
Justice V. Kameswar Rao Delhi HC Patna HC
Justice Ravindra V. Ghuge Bombay HC (Acting CJ) Calcutta HC
Justice Mahesh Chandra Tripathi Allahabad HC Bombay HC
Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra Punjab & Haryana HC Punjab & Haryana HC
(Acting CJ, parent HC Allahabad)

Justice Mishra's is the odd one out on the list, he's already been holding the Punjab & Haryana post in an acting capacity since 1 June 2026, after his predecessor Sheel Nagu was elevated to the Supreme Court. The Collegium's recommendation converts that acting charge into a substantive one rather than moving him anywhere.

The other three represent a genuine reshuffle: Justice Rao moves from Delhi to head Patna, Justice Ghuge moves from Bombay (where he's been Acting Chief Justice) to head Calcutta, and Justice Tripathi moves from Allahabad to head Bombay, the seat Justice Ghuge is vacating.

The transfers

In a separate resolution passed the same day, the Collegium recommended two further moves, both out of the Orissa High Court:

Justice Manash Ranjan Pathak (parent High Court: Gauhati) from Orissa HC to Gujarat HC
Justice Krushna Ram Mohapatra from Orissa HC to Chhattisgarh HC

Collegium transfer resolutions don't carry public reasoning, by convention, none of the resolutions disclose the basis for a transfer recommendation.


Collegium recommendations aren't appointments. Under the Memorandum of Procedure that governs judicial appointments and transfers, the Centre now processes these names, which can include seeking the recommending judges' views again, or in rare cases returning a name for reconsideration, before formal notification. There's no fixed timeline for that step, though Chief Justice appointments have typically moved faster than puisne judge elevations in recent years.