Justice Praveen Kumar asked to perform duties of Chief Justice of Andhra Pradesh HC

Justice Chagari Praveen Kumar was Friday asked to perform the duties of the Chief Justice of the Andhra Pradesh High Court, which will come into being on January 1.

A total of 15 judges have been allocated to the Andhra Pradesh High Court.

A Law Ministry notification said he will perform the duties of the Chief Justice with effect from January 1. Justice Kumar is the senior-most judge of the Andhra Pradesh High Court.

Justice Ramesh Ranganathan, who has also been allocated the same high court, is presently working as the Chief Justice of the Uttarakhand High Court.

After Justice Ranganathan, Justice Kumar is the senior-most judge there.

Judges are allocated parent high courts when they begin their careers in high courts. Since the Andhra Pradesh High Court is new, judges were asked their preference and allocated either the Andhra Pradesh or the Telangana High Court.

Justice R Subhash Reddy, who was a judge of the common high court of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and has since been elevated to the Supreme Court, has exercised the option for allocation to the Telangana High Court.