Former Hon'ble Chief Justices of The High Court of Madhya Pradesh

Hon'ble Shri Justice Mohammad Hidayatullah was born on 17th December, 1905. His Lordship educated from Government High School Raipur in 1922 and thereafter attended Morris College in Nagpur, where he was nominated as the Phillip's Scholar in 1926. His Lordship was awarded Malak Gold Medal. His Lordship thereafter attended Trinity College at the University of Cambridge from 1927 to 1930 and obtained B.A. and M.A. degrees from there. While at Cambridge, His Lordship was elected and served as the President of the Indian Majlis in 1929. His Lordship secured a place of Barrister-at-Law in 1930. His Lordship enrolled as an advocate of the High Court of Central Provinces and Berar at Nagpur on 19th July, 1930. On 12th December, 1942, His Lordship was appointed Government Pleader in the High Court at Nagpur. On 2nd August, 1943, His Lordship became the Advocate General of Central Provinces and Berar and continued to hold the said post till he was appointed as an Additional Judge of that High Court in 1946. On 24th June, 1946, His Lordship was appointed as Additional Judge of High Court of Central Provinces and Berar and on 13th September, 1946 he was appointed as permanent judge. His Lordship was elevated as Chief Justice of Nagpur High Court on 3rd December, 1954. In November 1956, His Lordship was appointed as the Chief Justice of Madhya Pradesh High Court. On 1st December 1958, His Lordship was elevated as a Judge of the Supreme Court of India and thereafter, after serving as a judge for nearly 10 years, was appointed as the Chief Justice of India on 25th February, 1968. His Lordship demitted the office on 16th December, 1970.

Hon'ble Shri Justice Ganesh Prasad Bhutt was born on 22nd September, 1899. After his academic education, His Lordship joined the Jabalpur Bar in 1922. In 1927, His Lordship was appointed subordinate Judge at Raipur. For some time he worked as Chairman of different Debt Conciliation Boards. Later His Lordship became the Additional Sessions Judge but his services were transferred to the Central Government in the Ministry of Defence. He worked on the Pensions Appeal Tribunal and on his return to Madhya Pradesh, he was appointed District & Sessions Judge, Nagpur. In 1953 he was appointed as Judge of the Nagpur High Court and on account of reorganization of State, he became a Judge of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh. His Lordship was appointed as the Chief Justice of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh on 13th December, 1958. His Lordship demitted the office of the Chief Justice of High Court of Madhya Pradesh on 12th September, 1959.

Hon'ble Shri Justice Purushottam Vinayak Dixit was born on 19th March, 1907. His Lordship had his school education from Patwardhan High School, Nagpur. After obtaining B.Sc. degree from Nagpur University. He joined Christ's College, Cambridge (U.K.). He was called to the Bar in 1931. On his return to India, he started practice at the High Court of Judicature at Nagpur. Thereafter, he came to Gwalior and held many important posts in the State. He became a Judge of the Gwalior High Court in 1941-42 and again in 1945-46. He was appointed as Chief Justice of the Gwalior High Court in 1946 and later as judge of the Madhya Bharat High Court when the state was constituted. He was appointed as the Chief Justice of the Madhya Bharat High Court on 1st October, 1956. After the reorganization of the States, His Lordship became a Judge of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh on 1st November, 1956. His Lordship was appointed as the Chief Justice of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh on 22nd September, 1959. His Lordship was the acting Governor of the Madhya Pradesh from 3rd February, 1966 to 9th February, 1966. His Lordship demitted the office of the Chief Justice of High Court of Madhya Pradesh on 18th March, 1969.

Hon'ble Shri Justice Bishambhar Dayal was born on 14th September, 1910. His Lordship had his education in Allahabad and Agra Colleges. His Lordship obtained law degree in 1932. He was elevated as judge of the Allahabad High Court on 6th May, 1957. His Lordship was appointed as the Chief Justice of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh on 19th March, 1969. His Lordship demitted the office of the Chief Justice of High Court of Madhya Pradesh on 13th September, 1972.

Hon'ble Shri Justice Prabhakar Keshava Tare was born on 11th October, 1913 at Jalgaon (Maharashtra). His Lordship had his primary education at Hoshangabad (M.P.). He obtained his B.A. and LL.B. degrees from Nagpur University and thereafter joined his father's practice at Hoshangabad in the year 1936. He was elevated as judge of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh and took oath of the office of Judge on 14th December, 1957. His Lordship was appointed as the Chief Justice of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh on 14th September, 1972. His Lordship demitted the office of the Chief Justice of High Court of Madhya Pradesh on 10th October, 1975. After retirement, His Lordship served as the Chairman of Madhya Pradesh Law Commission.

Hon'ble Shri Justice Shivdayal Shrivastava was born on 28th February, 1916. His Lordship had his primary education from Murar High School, Gwalior. Thereafter he obtained B.Sc. degree from Victoria College, Gwalior and did LL.B. from Agra College, Agra. His Lordship enrolled as an advocate on 1st July, 1939 and started practice at Gwalior. He held the office of Government Advocate from 1949 to 1958. He was standing counsel for Municipal Council Trust, Gwalior from 1939 to 1958 and also member and Vice President of Gwalior Municipal Council from 1942 to 1946. His Lordship was elevated as judge of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh on 3rd November, 1958. His Lordship was appointed as the Chief Justice of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh on 11th October, 1975 and demitted the office of the Chief Justice of High Court of Madhya Pradesh on 27th February, 1978.

Hon'ble Shri Justice Ananda Prakash Sen was born on 20th September, 1923. He belonged to a family of lawyers. He was educated at Science College and Law College, Nagpur. He joined the Nagpur Bar in June, 1945 and practiced in the District Court till November, 1947. His Lordship enrolled as an advocate of the Nagpur High Court in November, 1947. On creation of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh, he shifted to Jabalpur on 1st November, 1956. He practised exclusively in the High Court for 21 years mainly in constitutional, civil and taxation matters. He was asked by the Chief Justice to constitute the Madhya Pradesh Bar Council and held the first general elections. He served as Advocate General of Madhya Pradesh from June, 1966 till 6th November, 1967. His Lordship was appointed as Additional Judge of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh on 7th November, 1967 and as permanent Judge on 29th July, 1968. During the period of Emergency, His Lordship was transferred to the Rajasthan High Court on 29th June, 1976. His Lordship was appointed as Acting Chief Justice of Rajasthan High Court from 16th February, 1977 to 12th May, 1977 and again from 28th December, 1977 to 28th February, 1978. His Lordship was appointed as the Chief Justice of High Court of Madhya Pradesh on 28th February, 1978. His Lordship was appointed Judge of the Supreme Court of India on 17th July, 1978 and demitted the office on 20th September, 1988.

Hon'ble Shri Justice Guru Prasanna Singh was born on 3rd January, 1922 in a small village of Raipur Karchulian in Rewa district. After completing his school education from Central Hindu School, Kashi (Banaras), he had his college education from Banaras Hindi University. He obtained his Master of Science in 1941 by securing top position in the merit list. Thereafter, he earned his Law degree in 1944 from Banaras Hindu University. His Lordship practiced in Rewa Judicial Commissioner's Court and Rewa High Court till 1956. After the reorganization of the States, he shifted to Jabalpur to join the High Court Bar. He was lecturer in law in the Government Law College at Rewa from 1948 till he shifted to Jabalpur. His Lordship had been legal advisor to the University of Jabalpur. His Lordship's publication "Principles of Statutory Interpretation" is valuable addition to law literature. His Lordship took oath of the office of additional Judge of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh on 7th November, 1967 and later on appointed as permanent Judge on 29th July, 1968. His Lordship was appointed as the Chief Justice of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh on 27th July, 1978. During his tenure as Chief Justice of Madhya Pradesh High Court, His Lordship twice functioned as acting Governor of Madhya Pradesh, first - from 26th May, 1981 to 9th July, 1981 and thereafter from 21st September, 1983 to 7th October, 1983. His Lordship demitted the office of Chief Justice of Madhya Pradesh High Court on 3rd January, 1984. After demitting the office of the Chief Justice, His Lordship had rendered his valuable services in the capacity of the Chairman, Madhya Pradesh Law Commission from 1990 to 1992. His Lordship was appointed as Lokayukta of Madhya Pradesh on 30th March, 1992 which office he held till 29th March, 1997.

Hon'ble Shri Justice Goverdhan Lal Oza was born on 12th December, 1924 at Ujjain. His father Shri Jamnalal ji Oza was a well-known social worker of Ujjain. He had his early education at Madhav College, Ujjain. In the student days he took active part in student politics and the freedom movement called 'Quit India' under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi. As a student, he also led the agitation against the rulers of the Holkar State who did not want to merge with the Indian Union and ultimately the ruler accepted the merger of the State in the Indian Union. In 1948, he joined the Bar at Indore. In the early days at the Bar he was actively associated with the politics in the country and attended the Asian Socialist Conference at Rangoon (Burma) in December, 1952 as a delegate from India. He has been a lawyer of outstanding merit. He has worked in Constitutional, Civil, Criminal, Labour and other cases. He has been associated with practically all the important and sensational cases at Indore for about a decade before elevation to the Bench. On 29th July, 1968, His Lordship was sworn in as Additional Judge of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh. Thereafter, he joined the Indore Bench of the High Court. Indore Bar welcomed the appointment of their colleagues with acclamation. As a Judge he was the pioneer in starting the work of legal aid and founded a voluntary legal aid and education society. It continued to function till the State Government took over the legal aid programme. On 3rd January, 1984 he took over as the Chief Justice of the State and was Acting Chief Justice till 1st December, 1984 when he was appointed as the permanent Chief Justice of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh. On 29th October, 1985, he took the oath of office as a Judge of the Supreme Court of India. His Lordship demitted the office of Judge, Supreme Court of India, on 11th December, 1989.

Hon'ble Mr. Justice Jagdish Sharan Verma was born on 18th January, 1933. His Lordship educated at Venkat High School, Satna (Madhya Pradesh), Government Jubilee Inter College, Lucknow, Ewing Christian College, Allahabad and University of Allahabad. His Lordship was enrolled Pleader in the Vindhya Pradesh Judicial Commissioner's Court, Rewa in January, 1955 and Advocate, Madhya Pradesh High Court in August, 1959. His Lordship was appointed as Additional Judge of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh on 12th September, 1972 and thereafter as permanent Judge on 2nd June, 1973. His Lordship was Company Judge in the High Court of Madhya Pradesh for several years and was also Chairman of Advisory Boards constituted under the National Security Act and other preventive detention laws. He also headed the Administrative Committee of Madhya Pradesh High Court for several years. His Lordship was appointed Acting Chief Justice of High Court of Madhya Pradesh on 27thOctober, 1985 and permanent Chief Justice on 14th June, 1986. His Lordship was transferred as Chief Justice to Rajasthan High Court on 1st September, 1986. He was also twice acting Governor of Rajasthan from 15.10.1987 to 20.2.1988 and from 3.2.1989 to 20.2.1989. He was appointed Judge of the Supreme Court of India on 3rd June, 1989. His Lordship was appointed as Chief Justice of India on 25th March, 1997. His Lordship demitted the office of Chief Justice of India on 18th January, 1998.

Hon'ble Shri Justice Narayan Dutta Ojha was born on 19th January, 1926 in District Pratapgarh (U.P.). He passed High School Examination from Daraganj High School, Allahabad in 1939 and Intermediate Examination from the K.P. Intermediate College, Allahabad in 1941. He obtained B.A. degree in 1943 and LL.B. degree in 1945 from University of Allahabad. He was married to Smt. Savitri Devi on 15th June, 1948. He practised for few years as a Pleader in the District Court at Allahabad. He enrolled as an Advocate of the Allahabad High Court on 20th December, 1951. He was appointed as Additional Judge of the Allahabad High Court on 3rd September, 1971 and permanent Judge of that High Court on 12th December, 1972. He was Acting Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court from 18th August, 1986 to 30th September, 1986. He was appointed Chief Justice of High Court of Madhya Pradesh on 8th January, 1987. He also functioned as the Governor, Madhya Pradesh from 1st December, 1987 to 29th December, 1987 and thereafter continued as Chief Justice of Madhya Pradesh High Court. His Lordship was appointed Judge of the Supreme Court on 18th January, 1988. His Lordship demitted the office of Judge, Supreme Court of India on 18th January, 1991.

Hon'ble Shri Justice Gangadhar Ganesh Sohani was born on 18th December, 1928. He obtained education from Victoria College, Gwalior, Allahabad University, Government Law College, Bombay and School of Economics, Bombay. After enrolment as an advocate, he started practice in civil, criminal and labour cases at Indore. He was appointed as Deputy Government Advocate from August, 1961 to February, 1970. His Lordship was appointed as Judge of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh on 2nd June, 1973. He was appointed acting Chief Justice of High Court of Madhya Pradesh on 20.10.1989 His Lordship was appointed as Chief Justice of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh on 20th October, 1989. His Lordship was transferred to the Patna High Court on 24th October, 1989. His Lordship demitted the office of the Chief Justice on 18th December, 1990.

Hon'ble Shri Justice Sushil Kumar Jha was born on 15th December, 1931. He was enrolled as an advocate on 14th August, 1955 and started practice at Patna High Court. He was appointed as Government Pleader on 12th April, 1971. His Lordship was appointed as an additional Judge of Patna High Court on 12th April, 1973 and as permanent Judge on 31st January, 1975. He was acting Chief Justice of Patna High Court from 2nd January, 1988 till 30th April, 1988. His Lordship was appointed as Chief Justice of Patna High Court on 19th October, 1989 and thereafter came to be appointed as Chief Justice of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh on 27th October, 1989. His Lordship demitted the office of the Chief Justice of High Court of Madhya Pradesh on 15th December, 1993.

Hon'ble Shri Justice Ullal Lakshminarayana Bhat was born on 14th October, 1933. He was enrolled as an advocate of the Madras High Court in July, 1955 and started practice on civil and criminal sides. He was appointed as an Additional District and Sessions Judge in May, 1970. His Lordship was elevated to the Bench of Kerala High Court as an additional Judge on 18th September, 1980. Thereafter, he became a permanent Judge of the said High Court on 16th September, 1982. His Lordship was appointed as the Chief Justice of Gauhati High Court and thereafter became the Chief Justice of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh on 15th December, 1993. His Lordship demitted the office of the Chief Justice of High Court of Madhya Pradesh on 13th October, 1995.

Hon'ble Shri Justice Ashok Kumar Mathur was born on 7th August, 1943. He was enrolled as an Advocate of the Rajasthan High Court on 20th October, 1967. He was appointed as Assistant Government Advocate and Deputy Government Advocate on 2nd August, 1969 and Government Advocate of Jodhpur from 31st January, 1977 to 12th July, 1978. He was appointed as Additional Advocate General in 1981. His Lordship was appointed as Additional Judge of Rajasthan High Court on 13th July, 1985 and permanent Judge on 23rd July, 1986. He was transferred to High Court of Madhya Pradesh on 18th February, 1994. He was appointed as the Chief Justice of High Court of Madhya Pradesh on 3rd February, 1996. His Lordship was transferred to the Calcutta High Court on 22nd December, 1999. He was elevated as Judge, Supreme Court of India on 7th June, 2004. His Lordship demitted the office on 7th August, 2008.

Hon'ble Mr. Justice Bhawani Singh was born on 28th March, 1944. His Lordship graduated from S.D. College (Lahore), Ambala Cantt. (Haryana) and obtained Law degree from Punjab University, Department of Laws, Chandigarh. He started practice in 1968 in High Court of Himachal Pradesh. He was appointed as Advocate General for the State of Himachal Pradesh in the year 1988. He held the office of Chairman, Bar Council of Himachal Pradesh from 1983 to 09.10.1988 besides being member of the Bar Council for 15 years as well as Chairman, Enrolment Committee, Secretary, Enrolment Committee, Member, Election Committee and Member, Law Drafting Committee etc. He was also the President of High Court Bar Association in High Court Bar Association, Shimla. His Lordship was appointed Judge of the High Court of Himachal Pradesh on 16th December, 1988. He discharged duties of the office of Chief Justice of the High Court of Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir High Court as an acting Chief Justice for 13 times, over a total period of 2 years. His Lordship was appointed as the Chief Justice of Jammu & Kashmir High Court on 16th June, 1997. His Lordship was appointed as the Chief Justice of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh on 24th February, 2000. Thereafter, His Lordship was transferred as the Chief Justice of High Court of Gujarat on 25th August, 2003 and demitted the office on 28th March, 2006.

Hon'ble Mr. Justice Kumar Rajaratnam was born on 13th March, 1942. His Lordship did his primary schooling at Lawrence School, Lovedale, Ooty and Madras Christian College High School, Madras. After graduating from Loyola College, Madras, he went to England for higher studies. His Lordship was called to the Bar of the Hon'ble Society of Gray's Inn founded over six hundred years ago. After being enrolled as an Advocate in 1971, His Lordship started practice as a lawyer in the Madras High Court under the able guidance of Shri Ratnavel Pandian, a prominent Senior Lawyer of Madras Bar. He served for two consecutive terms from 1992 to 1994 as the President of the Madras Bar Association. His Lordship was elevated as a Judge of the Madras High Court on 1st January, 1994. His Lordship served at Madras High Court for a brief period and was transferred to the Karnataka High Court as Judge on 24th January, 1994, where he served for almost 10 years. His Lordship was appointed as the Chief Justice, High Court of Madhya Pradesh and took oath of the office on 6th September, 2003. He demitted the office of Chief Justice on 12th March, 2004 on attaining the age of superannuation. After his retirement, he was appointed as first Presiding Officer of the newly formed Securities Appellate Tribunal, Mumbai, a post from which he resigned in July, 2005.

Hon'ble Shri Justice Raju Varadarajulu Raveendran was born on 15th October, 1946. He completed schooling from Fort High School and higher education from St. Joseph's College and Government Law College, Bengalore. He was enrolled as an Advocate on 11th March, 1968 and joined the chamber of Late Shri S. G. Sundara Swamy, former Advocate General of Karnataka. He was appointed as permanent Judge of the High Court of Karnataka on 22nd February, 1993. His Lordship was the Executive Chairman of Karnataka State Legal Services Authority. His Lordship took oath of the office of Chief Justice of High Court of Madhya Pradesh on 8th July, 2004. His Lordship was appointed as Judge, Supreme Court of India on 9th September, 2005. His Lordship demitted the office of Judge, Supreme Court of India on 15th October, 2011.

Hon'ble Shri Justice Ananga Kumar Patnaik was born on 03.06.1949. He is son of late Shri Gopal Chandra Patnaik, a leading businessman with great repute in Orissa. He had his schooling at Rajkumar College, Raipur. He was awarded prize for the "Best All Round Conduct and Leadership" in School. He had higher education from Delhi University with Honours in Political Science and obtained Law Degree from Madhusudan Law College, Cuttack. He was selected by the Rotary Foundation in Group Study Exchange Programme in 1976 and went to New Jersey, U.S.A. for study of institutions of America and its people. He was enrolled with the State Bar Council of Orissa on 28.03.1974. He practiced in the High Court, Subordinate Courts and Tribunals in Orissa and also appeared many a times before the Supreme Court of India. He practiced in different branches of law with specialization in Commercial Law and Constitutional Law. He was Standing Counsel for the Orissa State Road Transport Corporation from 02.05.1989 to 01.09.1990 and has been the Senior Standing Counsel for the Commercial Taxes Organization, Government of Orissa from 22.09.1990 to 12.01.1994. He was elevated as an Additional Judge of the High Court of Orissa on 13.01.1994 and on transfer assumed charge as Additional Judge of the Gauhati High Court on 07.02.1994. He became a permanent Judge of the Gauhati High Court in 1995. After rendering valuable services for eight years as a Judge in the Gauhati High Court, he again assumed charge as a Judge of Orissa High Court on 15.04.2002. He was the senior most Puisne Judge of the Orissa High Court and was the Executive Chairman of the Orissa State Legal Services Authority. He was also the Chairman of Orissa Judicial Academy. He was appointed as Chief Justice of the High Court of Chhattisgarh on 14.03.2005. On transfer, His Lordship assumed charge as Chief Justice of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh on 02.10.2005. His Lordship was appointed as Judge, Supreme Court of India, on 17.11.2009. His Lordship was nominated by the Chief Justice of India as the Visitor of the National Law University, Orissa, and as the Visitor of the National Law Institute University, Bhopal. He was conferred with the degree of Doctor of Law (HonorisCausa) by the Utkal University on 02.03.2012. He was also nominated by the Chief Justice of India as the Chairman of the Supreme Court Legal Services Committee and as the Chairman of the Committee on Constitutional Law and Allied Subjects for the project of the Indian Law Institute on Restatement of Indian Law. His Lordship demitted the office of Judge, Supreme Court of India on 02.06.2014.

Hon'ble Shri Justice Sayed Rafat Alam was born on 8th August, 1950 at Patna. He obtained B.A. (Hons.) degree in 1970 from St. Colombus College, Hazaribag and Law degree from Patna Law College, Patna. He was enrolled as an advocate in the year 1975. He worked as a partime Lecturer of Law in the college of Commerce, Patna from 1983 to 1994. He was appointed Government pleader for the State of Bihar in the Patna High Court. Hon'ble Shri Justice Sayed Rafat Alam was elevated as a Judge of Patna High Court on 8th November, 1994 and was transferred as a Judge of the Allahabad High Court on 28th November, 1994. He was a member of Administrative Committees, Chairman of various other committees of the High Court and Executive Chairman of U.P. State Legal Services Authority.\r\nHon'ble Shri Justice Sayed Rafat Alam was elevated as the Chief Justice of High Court of Madhya Pradesh and assumed the office on 20th December, 2009. His Lordship was transferred to Allahabad High Court and took oath of the office on 5th August, 2011. His Lordship demitted the office of Chief Justice on 7th August, 2012.

Hon'ble Shri Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde was born on 24th April, 1956 at Nagpur, Maharashtra. His Lordship took B.A. and LL.B. degrees from Nagpur University. He was enrolled on the roll of the Bar Council of Maharashtra in 1978. He practiced Law at the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court with appearances at Bombay before the Principal Seat and before the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India for over 21 years. His Lordship was designated as Senior Advocate in 1998. His Lordship was elevated as Additional Judge of the Bombay High Court on 29th March, 2000. His Lordship sworn in as Chief Justice of High Court of Madhya Pradesh on 16th October, 2012. He was elevated as a Judge of Supreme Court of India on 12th April, 2013. His Lordship sworn in as Chief Justice of India on 18th November, 2019. His Lordship has demitted the office of Chief Justice of India on 23rd April, 2021.

Hon'ble Shri Justice A. M. Khanwilkar was born on 30th July 1957 at Pune. He did B.Com. from Mulund College of Commerce, Mumbai and LL.B. from K.C. Law College, Mumbai. He was enrolled as Advocate on 10th February, 1982.He was appointed as Additional Judge of the Bombay High Court on 29th March, 2000 and confirmed as permanent Judge on 8th April, 2002. His Lordship was appointed as Chief Justice of the High Court of Himachal Pradesh on 4th April, 2013. Thereafter, he was appointed as Chief Justice of Madhya Pradesh High Court on 24th November, 2013. His Lordship was elevated as Judge of the Supreme Court of India and assumed charge on 13th May, 2016. Hon'ble Shri Justice A.M. Khanwilkar demitted the office of Judge, Supreme Court of India, on 29th July, 2022.

Hon'ble Shri Justice Hemant Gupta was born on 17th October, 1957. He belongs to a family of professionals in law. His grandfather was a prominent civil lawyer who voluntarily left practice at the prime of his professional career at the age of 65. His father retired as Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court in the year 1991. He enrolled as an Advocate in July, 1980 and practiced at the High Court after spending initial few years in the District Court. He mainly dealt with the civil cases. He also worked as Additional Advocate General, Punjab from 1997 to 1999. His Lordship was appointed as Judge of Punjab and Haryana High Court on 2nd July, 2002. He was member of the Computer Committee, Punjab and Haryana High Court, for more than 10 years. This period saw a complete computerization of the High Court including digitization of the entire records of judicial files and developing a mechanism to scan the freshly filed case, introduction of the Case Management System, launching of E-diary, E-filing of the cases, access to paper book module, on-line availability of the judgments and the daily/interim orders, extensive usage of the SMS, dispensing with the manual peshi registers, e-inspection, e-copy of the judgment(s)/order(s) by creating automated centralized copy agency. He also remained as Executive Chairman of the State Legal Services Authority, U.T. Chandigarh from July, 2012 till January, 2016. He was transferred to Patna High Court on 8th February, 2016 and was appointed as Acting Chief Justice of that High Court on 29th October, 2016. He was appointed as Chief Justice of High Court of Madhya Pradesh on 18th March, 2017. His Lordship was elevated as Judge, Supreme Court of India on 2nd November, 2018. Hon'ble Shri Justice Hemant Gupta demitted the office of Judge, Supreme Court of India on 16th October, 2022.

Hon'ble Shri Justice Sanjay Kumar Seth was born on 10th June, 1957. After obtaining B.A. and LL.B., he was enrolled as an Advocate with the Bar Council of Madhya Pradesh in 1981 and joined the Chambers of late Shri K.K. Adhikari, Advocate, who was later on elevated as Judge of this Court in 1983. He held the post of Sub Editor of I.L.R. (M.P. Series) in 1988-89 and Editor in 1998-99. He was Government Advocate from 1989 to June, 1996 and Deputy Advocate General from July, 1996 to February, 1997 and again from March, 1999 to June, 2000. In July, 2000, His Lordship was appointed as Additional Advocate General, which post he held till his elevation as Judge of this Court. His Lordship was elevated as an Additional Judge of this Court on 21st March, 2003 and as Permanent Judge on 19th January, 2004. He was appointed as Chairman of Advisory Board with effect from 9th August, 2016. He was also Administrative Judge of this Court with effect from 20th March, 2017. His Lordship was appointed as Chairman of the State Legal Services Authority with effect from 19th April, 2017. Hon'ble Shri Justice Sanjay Kumar Seth assumed the office as Acting Chief Justice on 01.11.2018 and thereafter, he was appointed as Chief Justice of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh on 14th November, 2018. He demitted the office of Chief Justice on 9th June, 2019 on attaining the age of superannuation.

Hon'ble Shri Justice Ajay Kumar Mittal was born on 30th September, 1958 at Chandigarh. His Lordship passed B.Com. (Hons.) from Sri Ram College of Commerce, Delhi University in the year 1977 and completed his LL.B. from Faculty of Law, Delhi University in 1980. In the same year, his Lordship was enrolled as an Advocate with Bar Council of Punjab and Haryana and started practice in the High Court of Punjab and Haryana in July 1980. His Lordship practised in Civil Law, Revenue Law, Writ Side in all branches of law including Constitutional Law, Service Law, Company Law, Tax Laws i.e. Income-tax, Wealth Tax, Sales Tax, Excise and Customs laws. His Lordship worked for the Department of Income Tax in the Punjab and Haryana High Court from 1982 and continued as such upto 1991. His Lordship belongs to a family of distinguished lawyers and is a grandson of Shri Shamair Chand, Barrister-at-Law of Lahore/Chandigarh. His Lordship was elevated to the Bench of High Court of Punjab and Haryana on 9th January, 2004. His Lordship had functioned as acting Chief Justice of the High Court of Punjab and Haryana between 4th May, 2018 and 2nd June, 2018 besides also functioning as Executive Chairman of the Haryana State Legal Services Authority for more than 3 (three) years. His Lordship was sworn in as the Chief Justice of High Court of Meghalaya on 28th May 2019. He took oath of the office of Chief Justice of the High court of Madhya Pradesh on 3rd November, 2019 and demitted the office on 29th September, 2020.

Hon'ble Mr. Justice Mohammad Rafiq was born on 25th May, 1960 at Sujangarh in Churu district of Rajasthan. His Lordship completed B.Com. in 1980, LL.B in 1984 and M.Com in 1986 from University of Rajasthan. His Lordship later on joined the Bar and practised as an Advocate after enrolment with the Bar Council of Rajasthan on 8th July, 1984. His Lordship worked as Assistant Government Advocate for the State of Rajasthan from 15th July, 1986 to 21st December, 1987 and Deputy Government Advocate from 22nd December, 1987 to 29th June, 1990. His Lordship appeared before the High Court as panel advocate for various departments of the State Government such as Co-operatives, Finance, Forest, Irrigation, Urban Development and Animal Husbandry for five years i.e. from 1993 to 1998. His Lordship also represented the Union of India as Standing Counsel from 1992 to 2001 before the High Court. His Lordship also represented the Indian Railways, Rajasthan State Pollution Control Board, Rajasthan Board of Muslim Wakfs, Jaipur Development Authority, Rajasthan Housing Board and Jaipur Municipal Corporation before the Rajasthan High Court. His Lordship was appointed as Additional Advocate General for the State of Rajasthan on 7th January, 1999 and worked as such till his Lordship's elevation to the Bench. His Lordship was appointed as Judge of the Rajasthan High Court on 15th May, 2006. He also worked as acting Chief Justice of Rajasthan High Court twice; from 7th April, 2019 to 4th May, 2019 and from 23rd September, 2019 to 5th October, 2019. His Lordship was also the Executive Chairman of the Rajasthan State Legal Services Authority and the Administrative Judge of the Rajasthan High Court prior to elevation as the Chief Justice. His Lordship was appointed as the Chief Justice of the High Court of Meghalaya on 13th November, 2019. He was administered the oath of office of the Chief Justice of Orissa High Court on 27th April, 2020, on being transferred from the Meghalaya High Court. His Lordship was administered the oath of office of the Chief Justice of High Court of Madhya Pradesh on 3rd January, 2021, on being transferred from the Orissa High Court. His Lordship was transferred as Chief Justice of High Court of Himachal Pradesh and assumed the office on 14th October, 2021. His Lordship demitted the office of Chief Justice on 24th May, 2022.

Hon'ble Mr. Justice Ravi Malimath

Born on 25.05.1962 in one of the most respected families of Karnataka. His paternal grandfather late Justice S.S. Malimath was a freedom-fighter and a pioneer in the struggle for the unification of Karnataka. He rendered yeoman service to the State as Chairman of the Inter-State Border Dispute Committee concerning the districts of Belgaum and Kasargod. He was one of the first two judges to be appointed as a Judge of the High Court of Mysore (now Karnataka).

\r\nHis maternal grandfather late Dr. S.C. Nandimath was an acclaimed scholar in Theology, Linguistics, Epigraphy, Sanskrit and Kannada. He was conferred with a Doctorate by the University of London on the subject “Theology of the Saivaagamas”. He dedicated his life to the cause of education and established various educational institutions in the backward areas of Northern Karnataka. He was an eminent Professor and a Principal, who, subsequently, became the Vice Chancellor of Karnatak University.

\r\nHis father late Dr. Justice V.S. Malimath is recognised as one of the finest Chief Justices ever. He was an eminent Chief Justice of the High Court of Karnataka and, later on, of Kerala. He has made monumental contributions for reformation of the legal system. He was Chairman of the Arrears Committee, Chairman of the Committee on the Reforms in Criminal Justice System, etc.

\r\nJustice Ravi Malimath graduated in Commerce from M.E.S. College, Bangalore and completed his Law Degree from Sri Jagadguru Renukacharya College of Law. Thereafter, he joined the chambers of Sri Shivraj Patil, who was, later on, elevated as a Judge of the High Court of Karnataka and, thereafter, as a Judge of the Supreme Court of India. He had practiced in all fields of law such as Constitutional, Civil, Criminal, Labour and Service. He was appointed as an Additional Judge of the High Court of Karnataka on 18.02.2008 and as a Permanent Judge on 17.02.2010. Many landmark judgments were delivered by him. As a Judge of the High Court of Karnataka from 18.02.2008 to 02.03.2020, he has delivered final judgments in 44,886 cases. The statistics indicate that this is one of the highest number of disposals in the State. As a Judge of the High Court of Karnataka, he worked very effectively as the Administrative Judge of many districts. He chaired various Administrative Committees. He was the President of the Bangalore Mediation Centre from 01.05.2017 to 26.01.2018. He was the President of the Karnataka Judicial Academy from 27.11.2018 to 12.01.2020. He was the Executive Chairman of the Karnataka State Legal Services Authority from 06.10.2019 to 04.03.2020. He was transferred as a Judge of the High Court of Uttarakhand and was administered oath on 05.03.2020. He was appointed as the Executive Chairman of the Uttarakhand State Legal Services Authority w.e.f. 13.05.2020. He was appointed as the Acting Chief Justice of the High Court of Uttarakhand w.e.f. 28.07.2020. Various reforms for the betterment of the judiciary in Uttarakhand were undertaken. In a short span of 149 days, he has rendered final judgments in 1501 cases.

\r\nHe was transferred and took oath as a Judge of the High Court of Himachal Pradesh on 07.01.2021. He was appointed as the Executive Chairman of the Himachal Pradesh State Legal Services Authority on 25.02.2021. He assumed charge of the office of Chief Justice (Acting) w.e.f. 01.07.2021.

\r\nA number of reforms were introduced on the judicial as well as the administrative side. New courts of Civil Judges were opened at Jhandutta in District Bilaspur and at Jaisinghpur in District Kangra. The Court of Additional District and Sessions Judge at Sarkaghat, District Mandi was also opened. Foundation stone of a new Judicial Courts Complex at Arki, District Solan was also laid.

\r\nPromotion matters relating to District Judiciary which were lying pending have also been cleared. Rules have also been approved for filling up vacancies in District Judiciary. Physical hearings were resumed in the High Court as well as in the Trial Courts throughout the state w.e.f. 09.08.2021. In 105 working days of the Court he disposed 1,511 main cases. More importantly 29 cases which are more than 10 years old and 128 cases which are more than five years old were disposed off during this period.

\r\nHe was elevated and transferred as the Chief Justice of High Court of Madhya Pradesh and took oath of office on 14.10.2021.

\r\nTenure as the Chief Justice of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh

\r\nJustice Ravi Malimath took oath as the Chief Justice of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh on 14.10.2021. Under his leadership, the justice delivery system in Madhya Pradesh has seen unparalleled development and historic growth.

\r\nDue to the hard-work and relentless efforts of Chief Justice Ravi Malimath and all the novel initiatives introduced by him, both the years 2022 as well as 2023 have carved a place in the history of Madhya Pradesh, as evidenced by statistics.

\r\nDisposals:

\r\nJustice Malimath has achieved one of the highest disposal of cases in the entire country. In 538 working days, he has disposed off more than 17,700 cases in Madhya Pradesh, which includes 5 cases which were 25 to 30 years old, 139 cases which were 20 to 25 years old, 586 cases which were 15 to 20 years old, 649 cases which were 10 to 15 years old, 2970 cases which were 5 to 10 years old and 13,350 cases which were pending for more than 5 years. A total of more than 65,600 cases have been disposed off by Justice Malimath during his entire tenure.

\r\nHistoric Achievements: \r\n

Chief Justice Malimath tackled pendencies head on. In 2022, the highest ever disposal of cases over 5 years old in the history of Madhya Pradesh’s district judiciary was achieved. This 2022 record was broken in 2023 and 2023 has now emerged as the year with the highest disposal of old cases in Madhya Pradesh’s history.

\r\nIn addition to the district courts, the High Court excelled as well. In 2023, the High Court achieved the highest ever disposal of cases in the history of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh.

\r\nThe figures for 2024 (up to May, 2024) already look promising due to the measures put in place by Chief Justice Malimath and are likely to result in 2024 being a historic year as well.

\r\nChief Justice Malimath has achieved the rare distinction of bringing significant and immense positive changes in each sphere of the justice delivery system, from pendencies to timings, from infrastructure to training for advocates, from the district judiciary to capacity building and many other fields. Due to this, Justice Ravi Malimath’s tenure as the Chief Justice of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh has been termed by many as the Golden Period for Madhya Pradesh.

\r\nPendencies: \r\n

The Madhya Pradesh justice delivery system was grappling with many significant issues when Justice Malimath took over. The most crucial of this was the lack of timely dispensation of justice to the litigants. Cases had been pending for decades without any hearings. Many cases from the 1960s, 1970s and so on remained stagnant with litigants waiting endlessly for justice.

\r\nImmediately post taking oath as the Chief Justice, Justice Malimath took stock of the pendency situation at Madhya Pradesh. A lot is spoken about pendencies and cases pending for decades but no action is taken to reduce it. However, Justice Malimath took on the challenge and conceptualized a unique project named as the ‘25 Debt Scheme’. This was introduced on 18th October, 2021. As coined by Justice Malimath, ‘25’ refers to the 25 oldest cases pending in each Court and ‘Debt’ refers to the fact that every pending case in the Court is a debt on the judiciary which the judiciary must discharge. A well thought of scientific scheme was introduced resulting in all the judges in the district judiciary attempting to judiciously dispose off the 25 oldest cases in their respective court for each quarter, namely 100 oldest cases in the court per year. The results were outstanding. This is the first such Scheme launched in India to target pendencies. This Scheme received high praise from none other than the Hon’ble President of India, Smt. Droupadi Murmu who not only congratulated the Chief Justice for fighting against pendencies, but also stated that the Scheme must be continued.

\r\n1 case pending from 1962, 1 case from 1964, 2 cases from 1966, 1 case from 1969, 3 cases from 1976, 4 cases from 1977, 5 cases from 1978 and so on were disposed off in the district courts. 17 cases, over 45 years old, 25 cases, which were 41 to 45 years old, 36 cases, which were 36 to 40 years old, 76 cases which were 31 to 35 years old, 182 cases which were 26 to 30 years old 1035 cases, which were 21 to 25 years and much more were disposed off.

\r\nFor the year 2022, 13,43,853 cases were disposed off, of which 1,86,578 cases which were 5 years’ old were disposed off by the district judiciary. This was the highest ever disposal of cases over 5 years old in the district judiciary for the year 2022.

\r\nIn the year 2023, 2,06,813 cases which were more than 5 years’ old were disposed off other than the regular disposal of cases by the district judiciary. The total of 13,98,691 cases were disposed off. Therefore, the record achieved in the year 2022 was broken by the record achieved in the year 2023.

\r\nSo far as the High Court is concerned, 1,21,041 cases were disposed off in the year 2022 and 1,39,857 cases were disposed off in the year 2023, which is the highest ever disposal in the history of Madhya Pradesh.

\r\nThe disposal of cases in the district judiciary as well as the High Court for these years was the highest ever disposal ever recorded in the history of Madhya Pradesh.

\r\nIncrease in timings: \r\n

In order to tackle the arrears of the High Court and to ensure that cases are heard and disposed off, Chief Justice Malimath through a Full Court resolution ensured an increase in the working hours for the High Court by half an hour each day. The same resulted in an effective increase of 19 working days in a year. This was the first such increase in timings in the history of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh.

\r\nInfrastructure: \r\n

Chief Justice Malimath heralded in a new era of infrastructural development for Madhya Pradesh. His tireless efforts to provide requisite infrastructure for the courts has resulted in a total sanction of more than Rs. 1,800 crores for new projects in the state. Such a large amount being sanctioned for court infrastructure over just a 2 ½ year period is a first for the judiciary in the country.

\r\nAround Rs. 460 crores have been sanctioned for a new court building at Jabalpur consisting of 61 court halls and requisite amenities. At Indore, around Rs. 308 crores have been sanctioned for a new High Court building consisting of 31 court halls and other amenities. Around Rs. 406 crores have been sanctioned for a new High Court building at Gwalior consisting of 31 court halls with necessary amenities.

\r\nRs.485 crores have been sanctioned for the construction of the new building for the Madhya Pradesh State Judicial Academy which will also house a 2,000 seater auditorium with all facilities.

\r\nIn addition to the Rs. 1800 crores, many other projects which had been stalled were fast-tracked and completed. Significantly,

\r\n• The Gwalior district court building for which the foundation stone was laid in the year 2008 was finally completed and inaugurated in 2024 due to the intervention of Chief Justice Malimath.

\r\n• 13 new court complexes have been completed including 213 new court halls and family court with an aggregate cost of around Rs.360 Crores.

\r\n• 80 residential quarters for judicial officers have been completed with an aggregated cost of Rs.44 crores, as a result whereof no court in the State is now functional in any rented premises. All the premises are owned by the courts.

\r\n• Construction of 52 court halls (6 court complexes) is underway for which an amount of Rs. 138 crores has been sanctioned by the State Government.

\r\n• Construction of 94 residential accommodations is also ongoing, for which sanction of an amount of Rs. 101 crores has been accorded by the State Government.

\r\n• Construction of 2 ADR centres and 51 Mediation Centres has been completed, the respective cost of which is 1.06 crores and 17.30 crores.

\r\nEfforts beyond the judicial sphere: Boond

\r\n‘Boond’, was conceptualized by Chief Justice Malimath for the upliftment of the underprivileged and marginalized. The Chief Justice received immense praise from the Hon’ble President of India for this noble initiative. At a Full Court meeting held on the 12th of August, 2023, it was resolved that a monthly contribution of a minimum sum of Rs. 5,000 would be provided by the Chief Justice and judges of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh, in order to procure and distribute essentials such as food, medicines, clothing and other items to the underprivileged and vulnerable members of society. As of April 30, 2024, an aggregate sum of around Rs. 12 lakhs has been utilized for this purpose. It is the first such initiative in the country which involves a contribution by the judiciary on an institutional level from their personal funds.

\r\nEqual opportunities for all:

\r\nChief Justice Malimath observed that the reserved posts in the judiciary often went unfilled. To ensure that the marginalized and economically weaker sections of society are also provided with the same opportunity, specialized capacity building programmes were offered with the curriculum of the judicial exams in mind. Experts in the field were tutors. The capacity building programmes have been conducted in various phases and over 1,000 people have benefitted from this. This is the first such initiative by the judiciary in India.

\r\nTraining program for young advocates:

\r\nAdvocates are an integral part of justice dispensing system and it is important to impart judicial education to advocates, especially young advocates. Hence, in order to mentor young advocates, Chief Justice Malimath devised a specialized programme for advocates with less than 5 years of experience. Different programmes were formulated for advocates practicing in the High Courts and in district courts across the state and offered in phases across 2022 and 2023. Such a training programme for advocates had never been undertaken earlier in the country and saw the participation of over 5,414 advocates across Madhya Pradesh.

\r\nDistrict Judiciary:

\r\nChief Justice Malimath has worked enormously for the empowerment of the district judiciary.

\r\nFor the first time in the country, as a mark of respect, Full Court References in memory of the 34 deceased judicial officers was organized. This is usually done across the country for only High Court/Supreme Court judges and never for the district judiciary. Justice Malimath has begun the tradition of honouring the memories of judicial officers from the district judiciary as well and consequently, references were held on 12.01.2023 and 04.02.2024.

\r\nTo repose faith in the district judiciary and to make them independent, pursuant to a Full Court resolution, a notification has been issued on 16.12.2022 relating to the usage of the word ‘District Judiciary’ in place of ‘Subordinate Judiciary’ and ‘Trial Courts’ in place of ‘Subordinate Courts’. In an article on the same, Padma Shri Prof. (Dr.) Upendra Baxi titled this act of Justice Malimath as creating Constitutional history.

\r\nSimilarly, in order to remove exclusivity, the dress code for the judicial officers has been prescribed so as to make them more at par with other courts.

\r\nTo accord an adequate and august recognition to the district judiciary, the newly appointed Judges in the district Judiciary were for the first time administered oath by the Chief Justice in a dignified ceremony at the High Court Jabalpur and by now 261 newly appointed Judges have been administered oath by Hon’ble Chief Justice.

\r\nThe entire mode of evaluation of judicial officers has been revised to make it more merit centric. Merit centric promotions are therefore now being undertaken. This is the first of its kind in the Madhya Pradesh judiciary.

\r\nThe entire transfer policy was also revised to make it more fair and additionally, a three tier check system has been put in place so that the disparity is duly put to an end. These measures were all undertaken to put the judicial officers at ease and concentrate on the cases at hand instead of the fear of being transferred.

\r\nThe Madhya Pradesh Nyayadish Sangh has adopted a motto coined by Chief Justice Malimath, “Integrity-Competence” and the logo has also been revised to reflect the motto.

\r\nAppointments and promotions:

\r\n Chief Justice Malimath expedited the process of appointment and promotions which were pending. To prevent any inefficiency, the recruitment drive and process for granting promotions were undertaken with priority and large pendencies were brought up to date:

• 284 Civil Judges, 2 District Judges and 14 District Legal Aid Officers have been appointed in last two years. In addition, 6 Civil Judges have been appointed as District Judges by way of Limited Competitive Examination.

• 97 Junior Judical Assistants, 16 Personal Assistants, 3 Stenographers, 7 Junior Judicial Translators, 3 Horticulturists, 3 Data Processing Assistants, 5 Technical Assistants (Computer) have been appointed in the High Court.

• In District Courts, 794 Class IV employees and 898 Class III employees have been appointed.

• 68 Judicial Officers have been given Super Time Scale, 157 Judicial Officers have been given Selection Grade, 109 Judicial Officers have been appointed as District Judge (Entry Level).

• 175 Judicial Officers have been promoted as Civil Judges (Senior Division).

• 326 Judicial Officers have been confirmed in the Higher Judicial Service and 404 Judicial officers have been confirmed in M.P. Judicial Service.

• 84 promotions on the posts of Administrative Officers and Deputy Administrative Officers in district judiciary have taken place.

• 1132 promotions in Class III and 538 promotions in Class-IV in district judiciary have taken place.

• 386 Promotions of employees and officers in the High Court have taken place.

\r\nTechnology:

\r\nThe High Court was the first in the country to commence the ambitious Courtroom Live Audio Visual Streaming System (CLASS) and Integrated Video Surveillance System (IVSS). These will help the live streaming of every court room from all district and tehsil courts. The total cost of the projects is Rs.189 crores. The first phase was inaugurated on 21.12.2023 at the district court Jabalpur and the tehsil courts at Patan and Sihora. The second phase is nearing completion.

\r\n Chief Justice Malimath ensured that access to IT connectivity was substantially enhanced with provision of 1,100 access points across 47 district courts across the state. Digitization was also prioritized. The High Court of Madhya Pradesh developed an in-house module for paperless courts / digital courts.

\r\n 22 E-Sewa Kendras have been constructed at the cost of almost Rs.80 lakhs and 180 more E-Sewa Kendras are in the process of construction.

\r\nMadhya Pradesh State Judicial Academy:

\r\n The Madhya Pradesh State Judicial Academy did not have its own motto. A new motto, “The Pursuit of Excellence” was adopted by the Academy, as recommended by Chief Justice Malimath.

\r\nA new 3 day orientation program was also introduced for the first time for newly appointed civil judges and district judges to help them overcome induction issues.

\r\nLegal services: \r\n

Under Chief Justice Malimath’s guidance, many initiatives were undertaken through the Madhya Pradesh State Legal Services Authority such as special health check-ups for jail inmates, workshops, training programs. A permanent centre for manufacturing artificial limbs was also inaugurated at Indore.

\r\nILR: \r\n

For the benefit of advocates, many steps were taken for the improvement of the ILRs on the instructions of Chief Justice Malimath. The ILRs were being published with inordinate delays of more than 6 months and the 5 year digest was being published with a massive 5 year delay. Chief Justice Malimath introduced various measures thereby expediting the release of the ILRs with no delays. The monthly ILR suffered a huge backlog for more than 6 months. Various measures were introduced to change the design and other issues which made the ILR more economical than what it was. The earlier cost of Rs.1,500/- per year was reduced to Rs.1,200/- per year. The backlogs were fully updated and from the month of July, 2022 the ILRs are being distributed in the first week of every month. The 5 Years’ Digest for 2016 - 2020 was also running behind schedule. Due to the hectic efforts of the Chief Justice by inculcating new ideas, the 5 Years’ Digest was released by the Chief Justice Malimath on 23.11.2023. So also the 2 Years’ Digest for the year 2021 – 2022 was released on 22.12.2023. The Chief Justice Malimath ensured that the Digest should be published on a year to year basis and not as and when time permits. Therefore, the Digest for the year 2023 was released on 11.01.2024 and assurance has been made that in the month of January every year the Digest of the previous year would be issued.

As a result of all these innovative measures, the subscribers who were 207 in December, 2021 have now swelled to 430 in December, 2023. Furthermore, the work of the digitization of the ILRs is also under process. The ILRs from year 1956 are now available in the digital form and the publications are also available on the web page of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh.

\r\nVision 2047:\r\n

Chief Justice Malimath launched a scheme namely ‘Vision 2047’ on the 75th Republic Day. Justice Malimath’s view is that the judiciary must contribute to India’s 100th year of Independence in a contributory manner - by ensuring that by 2047, no case remains pending for more than a year from its institution at Madhya Pradesh. The modalities of the Scheme have already been put in place.

\r\nAs per calculations, a proper and continued implementation of the ‘25 Debt Scheme’ as undertaken under Chief Justice Malimath would help in reaching this goal organically as well.

\r\nHon'ble Shri Justice Suresh Kumar Kait was born on May 24, 1963 at Village Kakaut, Distt. Kaithal, Haryana, India. Graduated in Humanity from University College Kurukshetra. During graduation, he was selected as Unit Leader in National Service Scheme (NSS) and was awarded University Merit Certificate. Post-Graduated in Political Science from Kurukshetra University. During Post-Graduation, he was elected as Joint Secretary of Students’ Union, Kurukshetra University. He obtained Bachelor’s Degree in Law from Campus Law Centre, University of Delhi and was enrolled as an Advocate in the year 1989. Justice Kait is first in the family who became the Advocate. He had been the Panel Lawyer/Senior Counsel for U.P.S.C. and Railways. He was appointed as Standing Counsel for Central Government in the year 2004 and continued till his elevation. He was elevated as an Additional Judge of Delhi High Court on 5th September, 2008; and became a Permanent Judge on 12.04.2013. Transferred to High Court of Judicature at Hyderabad for the State of Telangana and the State of Andhra Pradesh w.e.f. 12.04.2016. Transferred to Delhi High Court w.e.f. 12.10.2018.\r\nAppointed as Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court on September 25, 2024. \r\n