Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh, Telangana High Court Chief Justice, Appointed Supreme Court Judge
Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh, Chief Justice of the Telangana High Court and a Jharkhand High Court judge by parent court, is appointed a Supreme Court judge.
Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh, Chief Justice of the Telangana High Court, has been appointed a judge of the Supreme Court of India. Jharkhand is his parent High Court, and the appointment follows the recommendation the Collegium made on September 28, 2026.
His elevation ends a gap in representation. Jharkhand currently has no representation on the Supreme Court, and his parent High Court is Jharkhand. The Telangana chief justiceship has also been a route to the apex court before: Justices Hima Kohli and Ujjal Bhuyan were both elevated after holding it.
Justice Singh was born on July 7, 1965. He studied law at the University of Delhi and enrolled as an advocate in 1990. He practised at the Patna High Court from 1990 to 2000 and then at the Jharkhand High Court until he was appointed a judge of that court on January 24, 2012. He took oath as Chief Justice of the Tripura High Court on April 17, 2023, and moved to Telangana as Chief Justice on July 19, 2025.
He leaves the Telangana High Court after a little over fourteen months at its head. The Centre will have to name a successor or make an acting arrangement under Article 223.
His seniority on the new bench has an unusual twist. Justice Shree Chandrashekhar, who joined the Supreme Court on June 2, 2026, was junior to Justice Singh in inter se seniority among High Court judges. Justice Singh was passed over at that time. With his elevation coming later, he will now sit junior to Justice Chandrashekhar, according to an analysis by The Leaflet.
On the High Court rolls he would have retired on July 7, 2027. On the Supreme Court bench he will retire on July 6, 2030, which gives him about three years and nine months. The Leaflet also notes that none of the three judges recommended on September 28 is in line to become Chief Justice of India.
The Collegium's statement lists Justices Sunita Agarwal and Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya alongside him. With all three appointed, the Supreme Court will have 37 judges against an approved strength of 38.
