Three new judges appointed to Bombay High Court
Anand R. Jadhav, Mehul A. Sheth and Rashida M. Karim — all elevated from the Bar — bring the High Court's working strength to 71.
The Centre on 8 May 2026 notified the appointment of three new judges to the Bombay High Court, following the recommendation of the Supreme Court collegium last month. The notification, issued by the Department of Justice, brings the High Court's working strength to 71 judges against a sanctioned strength of 94.
The three new appointees, all elevated from the Bar, are Anand R. Jadhav, Mehul A. Sheth and Rashida M. Karim. They are expected to take oath of office before the Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court in the coming week.
The collegium, headed by the Chief Justice of India, had recommended the three names on 11 April 2026 after consultations with the Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court and the two senior-most judges of the Supreme Court hailing from the same High Court. The Centre's notification follows the standard timeline of approximately four weeks for non-controversial collegium recommendations.
The new appointees
Anand R. Jadhav, 54, has practised at the Bombay High Court since 1998, with a focus on commercial and arbitration matters. He has appeared in several reported judgments on the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, and represented industrial undertakings in MERC and APTEL proceedings.
Mehul A. Sheth, 53, is a third-generation Bombay practitioner whose work has been principally in tax and revenue matters, including before the ITAT, the Bombay High Court, and the Supreme Court. He has appeared as senior counsel before the Bombay High Court since 2019.
Rashida M. Karim, 51, has practised in criminal and constitutional matters, and has appeared as amicus curiae in several public-interest litigations before the Bombay High Court. She is the second woman judge to be elevated from the Bar to the Bombay High Court since 2023.
Pendency context
The three appointments come at a time when the Bombay High Court has been operating well below its sanctioned strength. As on 1 May 2026, the working strength was 68 against a sanctioned strength of 94 — a vacancy of 26 positions. The new appointments reduce the vacancy to 23. The Court continues to handle one of the largest case loads in the country, with over 6.5 lakh cases pending across its principal seat at Bombay and benches at Nagpur, Aurangabad and Goa.
The Supreme Court collegium has, in its recent resolutions, indicated that further names for the Bombay High Court are under consideration. A second tranche of recommendations may follow in the next quarter.