A Ministry of Law and Justice notification of 8 September 2026 records that the President, "in exercise of the powers conferred by the Constitution" and "in consultation with the Chief Justice of India", appointed Santosh Sharma, Smt Sushma Sawant and Sudhir Kumar — all judicial officers — as Judges of the Chhattisgarh High Court, and Nchumbemo Mozhui, an advocate, and Smt Helen Dawngliani, a judicial officer, as Additional Judges of the Gauhati High Court.
Five names, two courts, two kinds of appointment. Everything the exam asks about High Court judges is packed into those two sentences.
Two words that matter: Judge and Additional Judge
A Judge of a High Court is appointed under Article 217 and holds office until the age of 62. An Additional Judge is appointed under Article 224(1) when there is a temporary increase in the court's business or arrears of work, for a term the President fixes at not more than two years; an Acting Judge under Article 224(2) fills in while a permanent judge is absent or acting as Chief Justice. Additional Judges are usually made permanent when a vacancy arises — which is why the Gauhati names will reappear in a later notification.
Two neighbouring provisions complete the set. Article 216 lets the President fix the strength of each High Court — there is no constitutional number — and Article 224A lets the Chief Justice of a High Court, with the President's consent, ask a retired judge to sit as an ad hoc judge, a provision the Supreme Court revived in 2021 to attack pendency.
The consultation the notification mentions
Article 217(1) says the President appoints a High Court judge after consulting the Chief Justice of India, the Governor of the State and, for a judge other than the Chief Justice, the Chief Justice of that High Court. The word "consultation" has been litigated for four decades:
- First Judges case (S.P. Gupta, 1981): consultation does not mean concurrence; the executive had the last word.
- Second Judges case (1993): reversed that — the CJI's opinion, formed collectively with senior colleagues, is binding. This created the collegium.
- Third Judges case (1998): a Presidential reference fixed the numbers — for Supreme Court appointments, the CJI and the four senior-most judges; for High Court appointments, the CJI and the two senior-most.
- Fourth Judges case (2015): the 99th Amendment and the National Judicial Appointments Commission Act, 2014 were struck down on 16 October 2015 for violating judicial independence, a part of the basic structure; the collegium returned.
In practice the chain runs: the High Court collegium (Chief Justice plus two senior-most judges) recommends; the Chief Minister and Governor send their views; the Union Law Ministry adds an Intelligence Bureau report; the Supreme Court collegium approves; the President signs the warrant. A draft Memorandum of Procedure to govern this has been under negotiation between the government and the judiciary since 2015. The judiciary spoke sets out the parallel rules for the Supreme Court.
Who can be a judge, and on what terms
Under Article 217(2) a person must be a citizen of India and must have held a judicial office for 10 years, or been an advocate of a High Court (or of two or more in succession) for 10 years. The 8 September list shows both routes: four judicial officers and one advocate.
- Tenure: till 62 — raised from 60 by the 15th Amendment, 1963. Supreme Court judges retire at 65.
- Oath: before the Governor (Article 219), unlike a Supreme Court judge, who is sworn by the President.
- Removal: the same procedure as a Supreme Court judge — an address by each House with a special majority on grounds of proved misbehaviour or incapacity (Article 217(1)(b) read with Article 124(4)). No High Court judge has ever been removed.
- Transfer: by the President after consulting the CJI, under Article 222; transfers are the collegium's most contested power.
- Salary: fixed by Parliament and charged on the Consolidated Fund of the State; ₹2.25 lakh a month for a judge and ₹2.50 lakh for a Chief Justice since the 2018 revision.
- After retirement: Article 220 bars practice in the same High Court, but not in the Supreme Court or another High Court.
The Governor's role in oath and consultation is why the State executive notes belong next to this topic.
The two courts
Gauhati High Court was set up on 5 April 1948 as the High Court of Assam and took its present name in 1971. It once covered seven States; since March 2013, when Manipur, Meghalaya and Tripura received their own High Courts, it serves Assam, Nagaland, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh from its principal seat at Guwahati and benches at Kohima, Aizawl and Itanagar — still the widest territorial reach of any High Court in terms of States.
Chhattisgarh High Court was created on 1 November 2000 at Bilaspur under the Madhya Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2000, the day the State was born; it was the 19th High Court.
India now has 25 High Courts. The three oldest — Calcutta, Bombay and Madras — date from 1862; the newest is Andhra Pradesh at Amaravati, from 1 January 2019, after the Hyderabad court became the Telangana High Court. Article 231 allows a common High Court for two or more States: Bombay serves Maharashtra, Goa and the union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu; Punjab and Haryana share one with Chandigarh; Kerala covers Lakshadweep; Madras covers Puducherry; Calcutta covers the Andaman and Nicobar Islands; and Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh share a High Court of two union territories. Delhi is the only union territory with a High Court of its own.
Why five names are news
High Courts carry a sanctioned strength of about 1,100 judges and have run with 300 or more vacancies for most of the last decade, while pendency on the National Judicial Data Grid stands above 60 lakh cases. Every notification of the kind issued on 8 September is one step in a queue that the collegium, the Law Ministry and the Intelligence Bureau all touch — which is also why the 99th Amendment, and the argument over who should have the last word, keep returning to Parliament. The amendment procedure spoke covers how a constitutional amendment can be struck down at all.
🔑 Revision block
The notification. 8 September 2026 — Santosh Sharma, Sushma Sawant, Sudhir Kumar: Judges, Chhattisgarh HC; Nchumbemo Mozhui (advocate), Helen Dawngliani: Additional Judges, Gauhati HC. Articles. 214 (a HC for each State); 216 (strength fixed by the President); 217 (appointment, consultation with CJI, Governor, HC Chief Justice; tenure 62); 219 (oath before Governor); 220 (no practice in same HC); 222 (transfer); 224 (Additional ≤2 years; Acting); 224A (retired judges); 231 (common HC). Qualifications. Citizen; 10 years judicial office or 10 years advocate of a High Court. Collegium cases. 1981 S.P. Gupta (executive primacy) → 1993 Second Judges (collegium) → 1998 Third Judges (CJI + 4 for SC, CJI + 2 for HC) → 2015 Fourth Judges (NJAC and 99th Amendment struck down, 16 October 2015). Gauhati HC. 5 April 1948; Assam, Nagaland, Mizoram, Arunachal; benches Kohima, Aizawl, Itanagar; Manipur, Meghalaya, Tripura separated in 2013. Chhattisgarh HC. 1 November 2000, Bilaspur, 19th HC, MP Reorganisation Act 2000. Count. 25 High Courts; oldest Calcutta, Bombay, Madras (1862); newest Andhra Pradesh, Amaravati (1 January 2019); Delhi the only UT with its own.
🎯 Practice MCQs
Q1. Additional Judges of a High Court are appointed under Article: (a) 216 (b) 217 (c) 224 (d) 231 → (c).
Q2. The maximum term of an Additional Judge of a High Court is: (a) 1 year (b) 2 years (c) 3 years (d) 5 years → (b).
Q3. A High Court judge retires at the age of: (a) 60 (b) 62 (c) 65 (d) 70 → (b) — raised from 60 by the 15th Amendment, 1963.
Q4. A High Court judge takes the oath of office before the: (a) President (b) Chief Justice of India (c) Governor (d) Chief Minister → (c) — Article 219.
Q5. The minimum period as an advocate of a High Court to qualify as its judge is: (a) 5 years (b) 7 years (c) 10 years (d) 15 years → (c).
Q6. The collegium system was created by the: (a) First Judges case, 1981 (b) Second Judges case, 1993 (c) Third Judges case, 1998 (d) 99th Amendment → (b).
Q7. The National Judicial Appointments Commission was struck down by the Supreme Court in: (a) 2013 (b) 2014 (c) 2015 (d) 2018 → (c) — 16 October 2015.
Q8. The Gauhati High Court does NOT have jurisdiction over: (a) Nagaland (b) Mizoram (c) Meghalaya (d) Arunachal Pradesh → (c) — Meghalaya has had its own High Court since 2013.
Q9. The seat of the Chhattisgarh High Court is at: (a) Raipur (b) Bilaspur (c) Jabalpur (d) Durg → (b).
Q10. Which Article allows a common High Court for two or more States? (a) 214 (b) 222 (c) 224 (d) 231 → (d).
Q11. The number of High Courts in India is: (a) 21 (b) 24 (c) 25 (d) 28 → (c).
Q12. Consider the following: 1. The transfer of a High Court judge is made by the President under Article 222. 2. A retired High Court judge may practise in the same High Court. (a) 1 only (b) 2 only (c) Both (d) Neither → (a) — Article 220 bars practice in the same High Court.
📋 How this gets asked (PYQ pattern)
High Court questions take four shapes. The article item — 217 versus 224, or 222 for transfer, with the Supreme Court's 124 as the confuser. The number item — age 62, two years, ten years, 25 courts. The jurisdiction item — which States share a High Court, with Gauhati's four and Bombay's set as favourites. The case item — which Judges case did what, and the year the NJAC fell.
The fresh 2026 hook is the Chhattisgarh and Gauhati appointments, likeliest to be asked as a statement pair contrasting a Judge with an Additional Judge. We describe the recurring pattern, not any exact past question.
Preparing for CDS or OTA? Judiciary questions are pure article-and-number recall, and this notification covers most of them. Build the base with our CDS/OTA polity hub, follow the daily CDS/OTA current affairs, and prepare with our faculty in the upcoming Cavalier courses in Delhi.
✍️ Written by Aditya Tiwari — Polity, environment & governance faculty at The Cavalier. Reviewed by the Cavalier Faculty Desk. The Cavalier, founded by ex-Army officers, has trained NDA/CDS/SSB aspirants since 2001 (Facebook · YouTube).
Source: PIB / Ministry of Law and Justice, 8 September 2026. Constitutional provisions, case law and court histories cross-verified with the Constitution of India, the Gauhati and Chhattisgarh High Court websites and independent sources.