Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya: two Chief Justiceships, then the Supreme CourtArticle hero for legal-buzz topic. Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya enrolled as an advocate in May 1991, practised at the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court, served as Chief Standing Counsel for Uttar Pradesh, became a judge in November 2011, headed the Bombay and Delhi High Courts, and took oath as a Supreme Court judge on 6 October 2026. Two Chief Justiceships beforethe Supreme Court bench
[ Legal Buzz ]

Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya: two Chief Justiceships, then the Supreme Court

Chief Standing Counsel for Uttar Pradesh before his elevation in 2011, and Chief Justice of first Bombay and then Delhi, Justice Upadhyaya took oath at the Supreme Court on 6 October 2026.

— Appointments — — 2 min read

Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya arrives at the Supreme Court having already headed two High Courts. He was Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court from July 2023 and of the Delhi High Court from January 2025, and took oath as a judge of the Supreme Court on 6 October 2026.

Enrolment and practice

Born on 16 June 1965 at Muskarai village in Ambedkar Nagar district, Uttar Pradesh, Justice Upadhyaya graduated in law from Lucknow University in 1991 and enrolled as an advocate on 11 May 1991. He read in the chambers of his father, R.A. Upadhyaya, who practised before the Board of Revenue, and of the senior advocates Mohd. Arif Khan and S.K. Kalia. He practised mainly on the civil and constitutional sides of the Allahabad High Court at Lucknow, and was appointed Chief Standing Counsel for the State of Uttar Pradesh in May 2007, holding that office until his elevation.

Allahabad High Court

He was appointed a puisne judge of the Allahabad High Court on 21 November 2011 and took oath as a permanent judge on 6 August 2013. He became Senior Judge of the Lucknow Bench on 28 March 2023.

Bombay, then Delhi

Justice Upadhyaya took oath as Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court on 29 July 2023. In December 2024 his bench upheld Maharashtra's award of the Dharavi redevelopment project to Adani Properties, finding no arbitrariness, unreasonableness or perversity in the tender process. In July 2024 it struck down a state notification exempting private unaided schools situated within one kilometre of a government or aided school from the 25 per cent quota under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, holding it contrary to Article 21-A. In May 2024 it dismissed challenges to the renaming of Aurangabad and Osmanabad as Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Dharashiv (ThePrint).

He was transferred to the Delhi High Court and took oath as its Chief Justice on 21 January 2025. In that office he conducted the in-house inquiry into the cash found at the residence of Justice Yashwant Varma in March 2025, and in April 2026 rejected applications seeking the recusal of Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma from the Delhi excise policy proceedings (ThePrint).

At his farewell from the Delhi High Court he said he had tried to softly bend the law towards justice (LiveLaw). He is due to retire from the Supreme Court on 15 June 2030.

Judicial Appointments Collegium