Justice Mishra takes the Punjab and Haryana oath after the Mann cabinet objected

Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra took oath as Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Monday morning at Lok Bhawan in Chandigarh. Punjab Governor Gulab Chand Kataria administered it. Haryana Governor Ashim Kumar Ghosh, Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, Assembly Speaker Harvinder Kalyan, Akali MLA Ganieve Kaur Majithia and Punjab Chief Secretary K.A.P. Sinha were in the room. Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann was not.

The Punjab Cabinet had met by video on Sunday evening and passed a resolution asking the Centre not to go ahead with the oath until the state's concerns were addressed. The government said the appointment had been notified without waiting for Punjab's views, and that this skipped the usual procedure. The Centre had notified the elevation on 5 September, a month after the Collegium under Chief Justice of India Surya Kant recommended it on 6 August.

Justice Mishra, born 16 November 1968, read at Kirori Mal College and the Faculty of Law, University of Delhi. He was appointed to the Allahabad High Court in February 2014 and transferred to Chandigarh in July 2025. He has been acting chief justice since 2 June 2026, after Sheel Nagu. He is the 37th chief justice of the common high court.

The dispute is about process, not a judgment the new chief justice has written. AAP ministers argue that a state which shares the court should be heard before the oath. The Union government treated the Collegium recommendation and the presidential warrant as enough. The empty chair at Lok Bhawan is how Mann recorded the disagreement without blocking a ceremony the Governor was prepared to hold.

What follows is ordinary court work. An acting chief justice who already ran the roster is now permanent. The Cabinet resolution stays on the state file. It does not unmake the oath.