Justice Meenakshi Madan Rai has been appointed acting Chief Justice of Sikkim High Court.

The appointment was made after Chief Justice JK Maheshwari's appointment to the Supreme Court was notified by the Central government.

"In exercise of the powers conferred by Article 223 of the Constitution of India, the President is pleased to appoint Smt. Justice Meenakshi Madan Rai, senior-most Judge of Sikkim High Court, to perform the duties of the office of the Chief Justice of that High Court with effect from the date Shri Justice Jitendra Kumar Maheshwari relinquishes the charge as Chief Justice of the Sikkim High Court consequent upon his appointment as Judge of the Supreme Court of India," the notification issued by the Ministry of Law and Justice on Friday said.

Justice Rai completed her LLB from Campus Law Centre, Delhi in the year 1989.

She started her judicial career as Judicial Magistrate 1st Class –cum- Civil Judge (East) District at Gangtok, Sikkim in 1990 and rose to become District and Sessions Judge and later the Registrar General of Sikkim High Court.

She was appointed judge of Sikkim High Court in 2015, the first woman from Sikkim to become a High Court judge.

She has also served as acting Chief Justice of the Sikkim High Court thrice before - in 2018, 2019 and 2020.

[Read Notification]