Justice MY Eqbal

Ranchi, April 3: The senior-most judge of Jharkhand High Court, M.Y. Eqbal, has been appointed chief justice of Madras High Court.

With the Supreme Court collegium recommending elevation of judges in the country, Justice Eqbal becomes the first judge from Jharkhand to be elevated as a chief justice of any high court in the country.

Justice Eqbal will take charge as chief justice of Madras High Court from Justice H.L. Gokhale, who has been recommended for elevation to the Supreme Court along with present Jharkhand High Court Chief Justice Gyan Sudha Misra. The decision has been taken by the Supreme Court collegium comprising Chief Justice of India K.G. Balakrishnan, Justices S.H. Kapadia, Altamas Kabir, R.V. Raveendran and Dalveer Bhandari.

Justice Eqbal was associated with the Ranchi Bench of the Patna High Court in undivided Bihar days. Eqbal, a gold-medallist in his batch, started as a civil lawyer in Ranchi district court. Later, he shifted his practice to the Ranchi Bench in 1986 and became a government pleader in 1990. In 1993, he became a government advocate in the high court. During that time, he practised in civil, criminal, constitutional and tax matters in the high court.

He was appointed permanent judge of Patna High Court on May 9, 1996, and was subsequently made a judge in the Jharkhand High Court after bifurcation of the state in 2000. Justice Eqbal is also associated with the Jharkhand Legal Services Authority.