Punjab and Haryana High Court gets 1st woman acting Chief Justice

Chandigarh, October 12

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Justice Ritu Bahri today became the first woman judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court to be appointed as its acting Chief Justice. The notification on her appointment was issued today –– a day before the retirement of Chief Justice Ravi Shanker Jha.

Known for her legal acumen and humane approach, Justice Bahri was instrumental in providing houses to economically weaker sections and low income groups of society, work of making newspaper and fabric bags to women labourers during the Covid period to help them wade through “tough times” and also bridging the gap between urban school students and their village counterparts by sharing books, toys and snacks. Justice Bahri has also taken up the issue of shared parenting between estranged couples. Justice Bahri was born on October 11, 1962, at Jalandhar and belongs to a family of illustrious lawyers. Her great grandfather, the late Karam Chand Bahri, was a well-known lawyer of his time on the civil side. Her grandfather, the late Som Dutt Bahri, also practised law on the civil side and was also a Punjab MLA from 1952 to 1957. Her father, Justice Amrit Lal Bahri, retired as a judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in 1994.

She did her law from PU in 1985. She was appointed Haryana Assistant Advocate-General in 1992, Deputy Advocate-General in 1999 and Senior Additional Advocate-General in December 2009.