Justice Ritu Bahri was sworn in as the first woman Chief Justice of the Uttarakhand High Court on February 4 by Governor Lt Gen (retd) Gurmit Singh. The prestigious ceremony at Raj Bhawan in Dehradun was attended by senior government functionaries including Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami. The Centre, on February 2, notified the appointment of Justice Bahri, replacing former Chief Justice Vipin Sanghi, who retired on October 26 last year. She was recommended for the position by the Supreme Court collegium last November.
Justice Bahri was previously the Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The Centre notified, “In exercise of the power conferred by clause (1) of Article 217 of the Constitution of India, the President is pleased to appoint Kumari Justice Ritu Bahri, Judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, to be Chief Justice of the Uttarakhand High Court, with effect from the date she assumes charge of her office.”
Ritu Bahri, First Woman Chief Justice Of Uttarakhand
Justice Ritu Bahri was born on October 11, 1962, into a family of illustrious lawyers from Jalandhar, Punjab. Her great-grandfather Karam Chand Bahri was a well-known lawyer. Her grandfather Som Dutt Bahri also practised law and was a legislator from Punjab from 1952 to 1957. Her father Justice Amrit Lal Bahri retired as a judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in 1994.
Justice Ritu Bahri completed her schooling at Carmel Convent School, Chandigarh, before pursuing a degree in Economics (Hons.) from the Government College for Women, Chandigarh in 1982. In 1985, she followed the footsteps of her distinguished family to pursue law at Punjab University.
Justice Bahri was enrolled as an advocate in 1986 with the Bar Council of Punjab and Haryana and started her practice at the Punjab and Haryana High Court. In 1992, she was appointed as Assistant Advocate General in Haryana and in 1999, before her promotion to Deputy Advocate General in 1999 and Senior Advocate General in December 2009.
She was elevated as a judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in August 2010. In October 2023, she was promoted to Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana HC, before the Supreme Court recommended her to the position of Uttarakhand HC's Chief Justice in November. The SC collegium mentioned that she authored 843 reported judgments, with 247 delivered in the last 5 years.
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