Gangtok, July 11 : Justice Meenakshi Madan Rai, one of the most distinguished daughters of Sikkim and the first woman from the state to become a High Court judge, retired on Saturday, July 11, 2026, as the Chief Justice of the Patna High Court, bringing to a close a remarkable judicial career spanning more than three decades.
Justice Rai demitted office after serving as the 48th Chief Justice of the Patna High Court for a little over a month. She was sworn in on June 5, 2026, following the recommendation of the Supreme Court Collegium led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant on May 22, 2026. Though her tenure at the top of one of India’s oldest High Courts was brief, it marked a historic peak in a career that began in the district courts of Gangtok.
Following her retirement, the Central Government notified the appointment of Justice Sudhir Singh, a senior judge of the Patna High Court, as the Acting Chief Justice. The notification, issued by the Ministry of Law and Justice under Article 223 of the Constitution, stated that the President has appointed Justice Singh to perform the duties of the office of Chief Justice consequent upon the retirement of Justice Meenakshi Madan Rai on July 11, 2026.
Born on July 12, 1964, Justice Rai’s story is deeply rooted in Sikkim. She is the daughter of Madan Mohan Rasaily, a former Home Secretary to the Government of Sikkim, and Rabi Mala Rasaily, a former school teacher. She began her schooling at Tathangchen School in Gangtok, studied at Dowhill School in Kurseong, and completed her Class XII from Tashi Namgyal Academy, Gangtok, in 1983.
On a merit scholarship from the Government of Sikkim, she pursued Political Science (Honours) at Lady Shri Ram College, Delhi University, and went on to earn her law degree from the Campus Law Centre, Delhi University, in 1989. After enrolling with the Bar in 1990 and briefly practising in the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court, she returned home to join the Sikkim Judicial Service in December 1990 as Judicial Magistrate First Class-cum-Civil Judge (East) at Gangtok, the first woman from Sikkim to hold that post.
From there, she rose steadily through the ranks of the state judiciary. She was promoted to Chief Judicial Magistrate in 2000, elevated as District and Sessions Judge in August 2004, and served twice as Registrar General of the Sikkim High Court, in 2006 and 2009.
On April 15, 2015, Justice Rai created history when she was elevated as a judge of the Sikkim High Court, becoming the first woman from Sikkim to sit on a High Court bench. Over the next eleven years, she served as Acting Chief Justice of the Sikkim High Court on multiple occasions between 2018 and early 2026, guiding the institution through several transitions.
Among her notable judgments in her final months at the Sikkim High Court was an April 2026 ruling in which she examined Sikkim’s unique constitutional protections and the property rights of Sikkimese women married to non-Sikkimese men, an issue of deep significance for the state.
Her elevation as Chief Justice of the Patna High Court in June 2026 was widely celebrated in Sikkim as a proud moment for the state. It also strengthened women’s representation in the leadership of India’s higher judiciary at a time when women remain significantly underrepresented on the bench.
Justice Sudhir Singh, who now takes over as Acting Chief Justice, was elevated as an Additional Judge of the Patna High Court on April 15, 2015, the same day Justice Rai joined the Sikkim High Court bench, and became a Permanent Judge on April 20, 2016. A graduate of Patna College and Patna Law College, he enrolled as an advocate in 1991 and served as Central Government Counsel and Assistant Solicitor General of India at the Patna High Court. His father, Justice N.P. Singh, is a former judge of the Supreme Court of India.
As Justice Meenakshi Madan Rai hangs up her robes, she leaves behind a legacy that stretches from the courtrooms of Gangtok to the Chief Justice’s chamber in Patna, a journey that generations of young women in Sikkim and across India will look to as proof of what is possible.
