Justice Rekha Manharlal Doshit, the senior most judge of the Gujarat High Court has been recommended by the collegium to become the next Chief Justice of the Patna High Court. She will become the first woman to head the court which exercises its jurisdiction over Bihar.

Justice Doshit was admitted to the bar in 1977. After practicing in the Gujarat High Court she was made an Additional Judge of the Gujarat High Court in 1995 and made permanent two years hence. Sources inform that the present Chief Justice of the Patna High Court, Dipak Misra, may be transferred to the Delhi High Court as Chief Justice.

Also Justice T. Meena Kumari (pictured), the senior most judge of the Andhra Pradesh High Court has been recommended for elevation as the Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court. She has previously served as an Acting Chief Justice of the Andhra Pradesh High Court when Justice Anil Ramesh Dave was transferred to the Bombay High Court. 

Justice T. Meenakumari was admitted to the bar in 1976 and was made an Additional Judge of the same court in 1998. After a brief stint in the Madras High Court for two years, she returned to the AP High Court in 2001.

In India, women constitute less than 10 percent of the sanctioned strength in the higher judiciary. Perhaps with these new appointments along with Justice Gyan Sudha Misra’s elevation to the apex court, we might be seeing a change in the direction of the wind.

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