Sunita Agarwal

Early life and education

Born in Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh on 30 April 1966, Justice Agarwal completed her primary and secondary education at Government Girls’ Degree College in the same city. Her father was a taxation lawyer. 

Justice Agarwal pursued a Bachelor of Science at Lucknow University, after which she graduated with a degree in law from Awadh University in 1989. 

Career as an advocate

On 16 December 1990, Justice Agarwal enrolled as an advocate in Allahabad at a time when there were few women at the bar. She practised primarily on the civil side at the High Court for 21 years. 

Career as a Judge 

Justice Agarwal was elevated as an Additional Judge to the Allahabad High Court on 21 November 2011. She took oath as a Permanent Judge on 6 August 2013 and was part of the very first batch of judges at the Allahabad High Court to receive mediation and conciliation training. 

In 2016, Justice Agarwal became a member of the High Court’s newly constituted Internal Complaints Committee against sexual harassment. She has served on multiple committees since, including the Committee on Sensitization of Family Courts. In April 2023, she was appointed as the Executive Chairperson of the Uttar Pradesh State Legal Services Authority. 

At the Allahabad High Court, Justice Agarwal was part of the bench for a number of notable matters. She has passed decisions against discrimination of LGBTQ persons, and persons living with HIV/AIDs, and stayed arrest of persons distributing food during the Covid-19 lockdown. Justice Agarwal was on a seven-judge Bench in Zila Adhivakta Sangh Allahabad, In re (2023) that framed contempt charges against Kanpur Bar Association lawyers for violating a High Court order which prohibited their strike seeking transfer of a district judge. 

When Justice Agarwal was recommended for appointment as Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court on 5 July 2023, the Supreme Court Collegium noted her seniority and the need for fair representation of women. None of the high courts in the country had a woman chief justice at the time and the vacancy had arisen with the retirement of Justice Sonia Gokani, Gujarat’s first woman Chief Justice. Justice Agarwal took oath on 23 July as the 29th Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court.

On 28 September 2026, Justice Agarwal was recommended for elevation to the Supreme Court. The Collegium led by CJI Surya Kant proposed her name along with Chief Justices Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya of the Delhi High Court and Aparesh Kumar Singh of the Telangana High Court. She is the second woman to be recommended in 2026 after Justice V. Mohana who assumed office on 2 June.