Justice Dharmadhikari appointed Chief Justice of Madras high court

CHENNAI: Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari, a judge of Kerala high court, has been posted as the Chief Justice of Madras high court. He will succeed Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava, who is slated to attain superannuation on March 5.

According to a statement of the Supreme Court collegium released on Friday, the recommendation was made at its meeting held on Feb 26. The statement added that the collegium took a policy decision that in order to strengthen the efficiency and quality of the administration of justice, a judge who is proposed to take over a high court as its Chief Justice may be transferred well in advance, preferably two months before the vacancy arises.


"So that such recommendee in the meantime becomes well conversant with the affairs of that high court and assumes charge of the office of Chief Justice, on the retirement of the incumbent Chief Justice," the statement said.

Justice S A Dharmadhikari was born on July 8, 1966, in Raipur, now a district of Chhattisgarh. He obtained a bachelor's degree in commerce and law from Nagpur University.

He enrolled as an advocate at Jabalpur in 1992. He served as a standing counsel for the Union govt from 2000 to 2015 for the department of income tax and RBI. He served as a senior standing counsel for central excise, district central co-operative bank, and various PSUs. He also served as a welfare commissioner for Bhopal gas victims.

He was appointed as an additional judge of Madhya Pradesh high court on April 7, 2016, and was made permanent on March 17, 2018. On April 23, 2025, he was transferred to Kerala high court, where he is fifth in seniority.