The Delhi High Court has been functioning without a regular Chief Justice for over ten months.

Justice Manmohan has been officiating as the Acting Chief Justice since November 9, 2023, when its last Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma bid farewell to the High Court after he was elevated to the Supreme Court.

Interestingly, the Collegium had recommended that Acting Chief Justice Manmohan be appointed the permanent Chief Justice of the High Court, but the same is yet to be cleared by the Central government.

Likewise, the Jharkhand High Court has also been functioning for the last many months without a regular Chief Justice.

Justice Sujit Narayan Prasad is currently officiating as Acting Chief Justice of the High Court.

The Collegium recommended that Justice BR Sarangi, an Orissa High Court judge, be appointed Chief Justice of Jharkhand on December 27, 2023.

However, the appointment was cleared by the Central government only on July 3, 2024 and Justice Sarangi retired from office on July 19. Thus, he ended up serving as Chief Justice for only 15 days.

Hence, in the last 8 months since the retirement of Chief Justice Sanjaya Kumar Mishra as Chief Justice on December 28, 2023, the Jharkhand High Court has functioned without a regular Chief Justice except for the brief period of 15 days when Justice Sarangi adorned the post.

The Collegium had recommended the appointment of Justice MS Ramachandra Rao as the Chief Justice on July 11, but the same is yet to be cleared by the Central government.

Pertinently, the Jharkhand government has approached the Supreme Court against the Central government's failure to clear the Collegium recommendation.