Kolkata: Supreme Court collegium has recently proposed elevation of Bombay High Court’s Acting Chief Justice Ravindra V Ghuge as the 45th Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court.Justice Ravindra Vithalrao Ghuge took charge as the ACJ of Bombay High Court on June 2, 2026, after the elevation of former Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar to the Supreme Court.At present, Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty is serving as the Acting Chief Justice (ACJ) of Calcutta HC after the retirement of former Chief Justice Sujoy Paul on June 20.Before being elevated as a judge of the Bombay HC on June 21, 2013, Justice Ghuge practised as a lawyer in Bombay High Court and Industrial/Labour courts. He initially represented workers and unions in around 2,000 cases and conducted cases for about 250 industries, including many MNCs and private large scale industries. Some of his prominent clients were Bar Council of India (BCI), Bajaj Auto Limited, Cogate-Palmolive, Carlsberg, Taj Hotels and Hindustan Lever, among others.It was based on a petition filed by him concerning Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) hospitals, which led to the formation of a special committee of doctors to recommend improvements in infrastructural facilities and medical amenities in the ESIC Hospital.Apart from his role in the Bar, Justice Ghuge was also a contributory professor for Master of Law (LLM) in Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University in Aurangabad. Justice Ghuge completed his schooling from Saint Xavier’s High School in Kolhapur, law degree from Shahaju Law College in Kolhapur and MP Law College in Aurangabad in 1990.The recommendation was made by the collegium on Aug 6, a day before the Centre approved the names of 8 senior lawyers as the additional judges of the oldest chartered high court in the country.The recent additions have increased the bench’s strength from 41 to 49. Around 32% vacancy remains as 23 seats remain vacant out of the sanctioned strength of 72. The case pendency in Calcutta HC as of July stands at 1,93,522 out of which 1,77,690 in appellate side and 15,832 in original side.One of the primary demands from the Bar for the past few years have been an increase of judges in Calcutta High Court considering the pendency of cases rising while the number of judges remaining fairly low compared to the sanctioned strength.Former Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam, in September 2025, had addressed this issue in his farewell speech. “With the help of fellow judges 17 names have been recommended. Even if 10 comes through, that will be a good addition to the high court,” he said. After his retirement, three judges, elevated from Bar, were added and recently 8 more bringing it to 11.
