Aparesh Kumar Singh

Early life and education

Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh was born on 7 July 1965. He completed his B.A. Honours and LL.B. from the University of Delhi. 

Justice Singh comes from a family of lawyers. His maternal great-grandfather, Justice Bhuvneshwar Prasad Sinha, was the sixth Chief Justice of India. His maternal grandfather, Justice Shambhu Prasad Singh, was Acting Chief Justice of the Patna High Court. His maternal uncles, Justices Bisheshwar Prasad Singh and Shiva Kirti Singh, served as judges of the Supreme Court. 

Career as an advocate

Justice Singh enrolled as an advocate in 1990. He practised at the Patna High Court from 1990 to 2000 and then at the Jharkhand High Court from 2001 until his elevation to the Bench in 2012.

During his years at the Bar, he appeared in constitutional, civil, criminal, service, arbitration and labour matters. He also appeared before the Central Administrative Tribunal in important service matters, representing State Universities in matters concerning appointments of lecturers. He was a retained counsel for the Mineral Area Development Authority, Dhanbad.

As counsel, he appeared in Mineral Area Development Authority v. Steel Authority of India, a case concerning the interpretation of royalty in the context of mining. The issue was referred for consideration by a larger Bench of the Supreme Court.

He was appointed amicus curiae by the Jharkhand High Court in several matters. He was associated with the Jharkhand State Legal Services Authority since 2004 and had prepared a status report on the subordinate judiciary in Jharkhand, published by the Judicial Academy in 2006.

Career as a judge

Justice Singh was appointed an Additional Judge of the Jharkhand High Court on 24 January 2012 and became a Permanent Judge on 16 January 2014. He later served as Executive Chairman of the Jharkhand State Legal Services Authority.

He became Acting Chief Justice of the Jharkhand High Court on 20 December 2022 and served in that capacity until 19 February 2023.  Justice Singh was appointed Chief Justice of the Tripura High Court on 17 April 2023. 

He was transferred to the Telangana High Court in July 2025 and took oath as Chief Justice on 19 July 2025. He also became Patron-in-Chief of the Telangana State Legal Services Authority.

On 28 September, the Supreme Court Collegium led by CJI Surya Kant recommended Justice Singh for elevation to the Supreme Court, along with Gujarat High Court Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Delhi Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya. He is the second judge from the parent High Court of Jharkhand to be recommended for appointment to the Supreme Court. The first was Justice Shree Chandrashekhar who was elevated earlier this year.

Notable Judgements

In Jitram Manjhi v Bharat Coking Coal (2018), Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh considered whether a dependent could claim appointment under Coal India’s Female Voluntary Retirement Scheme. The Court held that no legally enforceable right could arise from a scheme declared unconstitutional and rejected the petitioner’s claim for appointment.

In Alamuni Hansda v State of Jharkhand (2023), a Bench of Justices Singh, Ratnaker Bhengra and Anil Kumar Choudhary considered whether a woman could succeed to the office of village headman under the Santhal Pargana Tenancy Act, 1949 and the applicable rules. The judgement, authored by Justice Singh, held that succession was governed by the applicable law of inheritance and that a woman could succeed where she was the next heir.

In the Tripura High Court 

In Designated Courts for MPs/MLAs v XXX (2023), a Bench of Chief Justice Singh and Justice Arindam Lodh actively monitored and streamlined judicial oversight for criminal trials and corruption cases pending against legislators in compliance with Supreme Court directions. 

In the Telangana High Court 

In Telangana Public Service Commission v Paramesh Matta (2026), a Division Bench of Chief Justice Singh and Justice G.M. Mohiuddin set aside a single-judge order that had invalidated the Telangana State Public Service Commission (TGPSC) Group-I Mains examinations. The Bench held that ordering a sweeping re-evaluation of the high-stakes civil services exams was unsustainable in the absence of proven systemic failure or malpractice. The Judgement protected the Commission’s evaluation process and cleared the path for final recruitments and appointments.