22-07-2025
Justice M S Ratna Sri Ramachandra Rao sworn in as Tripura High Court Chief Justice
Former Jharkhand High Court Chief Justice M S Ratna Sri Ramachandra Rao was sworn in as the ninth Chief Justice of the Tripura High Court on Tuesday as Governor Indra Sena Reddy Nallu administered his oath of office at Raj Bhavan in the presence of Chief Minister Manik Saha, his cabinet colleagues, and senior officials.
Justice Rao replaced Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh, who was transferred to the Telangana High Court.
After earning his BSc (Hons.) Mathematics from Bhavans New Science College, Osmania University, Justice Rao pursued an LLB in the university, which awarded him the CVSS Acharyulu Gold Medal for scoring the highest marks in the final year of the course.
He enrolled as an advocate on September 7 in 1989 and later pursued an LLM from the University of Cambridge in 1991.
Justice Rao served as an additional judge of the Andhra Pradesh High Court in 2012 and became a judge of the court on December 4, 2013. Rao served as the acting Chief Justice of the Telangana High Court for a brief period and remained a judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court till May 29, 2023.
Rao became Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court on May 30 in 2023 after his transfer from the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
Rao was appointed as Chief Justice of the Jharkhand High Court on September 21, 2024. Rao's father Justice M Jagannadha Rao served as a judge of the Supreme Court from 1997 to 2000 and was a chairman of the Law Commission of India. His grandfather was a judge of the Andhra Pradesh High Court in 1960-1961.
The Tripura High Court was established in March 2013 along with the full-fledged high courts in Meghalaya and Manipur. Except Sikkim, all the northeastern states were earlier under the Gauhati High Court.
