Justice Sushruta Arvind Dharmadhikari will be the new Chief Justice of Madras High Court.
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Digital Desk, New Delhi. Kerala High Court judge Justice Sushruta Arvind Dharmadhikari, who heard the Bollywood film Kerala Story 2 case, has been appointed as the new Chief Justice of Madras High Court. The current Chief Justice of Madras High Court, Manindra Mohan Srivastava, is scheduled to retire on March 5. He will take charge just a day later on March 6, 2026.
Justice Dharmadhikari was part of the division bench that heard the appeal filed against the single bench's interim order staying the release of the film 'The Kerala Story 2- Goes Beyond'.
Considered the appeal filed against the interim order of the single bench staying the release of the film 'The Kerala Story 2- Goes Beyond' for 15 days. Which Justice Dharmadhikari and Justice P.V. Balakrishnan's bench reserved its decision late on Thursday evening after about two hours of hearing.
After hearing arguments on behalf of the film's producer Vipul Amrutlal Shah who had appealed against the single judge's interim order, the bench observed that the pleas opposing the film's certification amounted to a public interest litigation (PIL) and questioned how the single judge could hear it.
However, the bench did not pass any interim order in the court at the end of the hearing, as sought by the producer.
Earlier, single judge Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas had stayed the release of the film saying that legal requirements have been ignored by the Censor Board (CBFC). He also said that it would be legally inappropriate to release the film without investigation by higher authorities due to the possibility of the film inciting communal hatred or insulting any community.
Who is Justice Sushruta Arvind Dharmadhikari?
Justice Sushruta Arvind Dharmadhikari was born on July 8, 1966 in Raipur to Shri Arvind H. Dharmadhikari and Mrs. Shubha Dharmadhikari. He holds a bachelor's degree in commerce and law from Nagpur University. He was registered as an advocate in the Madhya Pradesh High Court, Jabalpur in 1992.
He has also represented the Income Tax Department and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). He was appointed Additional Judge of Madhya Pradesh High Court in April 2016 and Permanent Judge in March 2018. In April last year, he was sworn in as a judge of the Kerala High Court.
Also read- 'Kerala is a secular state, do not misrepresent it', High Court will decide today on the future of 'The Kerala Story 2'