Justice Manash Ranjan Pathak, who reached the Gujarat High Court only in mid-September, is set to lead it. The Supreme Court collegium met on October 26 and recommended him for appointment as the court’s regular Chief Justice, according to DeshGujarat and a PTI report (via ThePrint). The collegium, headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant with Justices Vikram Nath and B V Nagarathna, sent the name to the Centre, which must notify the appointment before it takes effect.
Six weeks from new judge to acting head
Justice Pathak has moved fast through three high courts. He spent twelve years on the Gauhati High Court, joining as an additional judge on May 22, 2013, and becoming permanent in November 2018. He moved to the Orissa High Court in July 2025. In August 2026 the collegium recommended his transfer to Gujarat, and Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal swore him in on September 14, LiveLaw reported.
Three weeks later Justice Agarwal left for the Supreme Court. The Centre notified her elevation on October 5 and she took oath the next day, which left the Gujarat post open. The Department of Justice then asked Justice Pathak to discharge the Chief Justice’s duties, SCC Online reported.
Before the bench, Justice Pathak practised in Guwahati from 1990, mostly in civil, constitutional, land acquisition and service cases, and served as standing counsel for the Tripura government, according to LiveLaw and SCC Online.
A retirement date in August 2027
High court judges retire at 62. LiveLaw gives Justice Pathak’s date of birth as August 28, 1965, which puts his retirement on August 27, 2027. If the Centre clears the recommendation in the coming weeks, he will head the court for about ten months. The collegium would then have to pick his successor within a year of this recommendation.
That matters to litigants more than it might seem. The Chief Justice decides which judges hear which kinds of cases, so the roster can change each time the office does. The Chief Justice also leads the court’s administration, including how the subordinate courts across Gujarat’s districts are staffed and run. Short tenures leave less time for longer projects, such as clearing old case backlogs or changing how listing works.
Four high courts in one resolution
Gujarat was one of four names the collegium sent the same day. It also recommended Justice P Sam Koshy of the Telangana High Court for Delhi, Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty of the Calcutta High Court for Telangana, and Justice Sudhir Singh of the Patna High Court for Uttarakhand, PTI and DeshGujarat reported. Justice Pathak is the only one of the four picked to lead the court where he already sits.
The Centre has not set a timeline for notifying the four appointments. Until it does, Justice Pathak continues as acting Chief Justice.
Sources: DeshGujarat, PTI via ThePrint, SCC Online, LiveLaw
This report was written with AI assistance from the publicly reported sources linked here; each fact was cross-checked against at least two of them.