The Central Government has notified the appointment of Justice Ravi Vijaykumar Malimath as Acting Chief Justice of the Uttarakhand High Court, as well as the appointment of Justice Meenakshi Madan Rai as the Acting Chief Justice of the Sikkim High Court.
Justice Malimath, the senior-most Judge of the Uttarakhand High Court has been directed to perform the duties of the office of Chief Justice with effect from July 28, 2020, upon the retirement of Justice Ramesh Ranganathan, the present Chief Justice of the Uttarakhand High Court.
In February, the Centre had notified the transfer of Justice Malimath from the Karnataka High Court to the Uttarakhand High Court following a Collegium recommendation made the same month.
Justice Malimath had been appointed as an Additional Judge of the High Court of Karnataka in February 2008 and was made a permanent judge in February 2010.
Justice Madan Rai, the senior-most Judge of the Sikkim High Court has been asked to perform the duties of the office of the Chief Justice with effect from July 15 to August 6, 2020, on account of Chief Justice Arup Kumar Goswami being on leave.
Justice Madan Rai was elevated as a Judge of the High Court of Sikkim on April 15, 2015. She is the first woman judge of the Sikkim High Court.
She has previously been appointed as Acting Chief Justice of the Sikkim High Court for the periods July-October 2018 and September-October 2019.