Sunita Agarwal

Sunita Agarwal (born 30 April 1966) is an Indian judge. She is the incumbent Chief Justice of Gujarat High Court and a former judge of the Allahabad High Court.

Early life and education Sunita Agarwal was born on April 30, 1966.

Career Legal career Agarwal enrolled as an advocate with the Bar Council of Uttar Pradesh on 16 December 1990. She practiced law primarily at the Allahabad High Court for 21 years.

Judicial career Agarwal was elevated an additional judge of the Allahabad High Court on 21 November 2011.

Notable judgements Maintenance rights (2017) In a 2017 judgment concerning Section 125 of the CrPC, Agarwal set aside a Family Court order that had dismissed a wife's maintenance application. The High Court asserted that a husband's obligation to provide maintenance is "fundamental and constitutional," ruling that a wife living separately due to cruelty or neglect is entitled to maintenance adequate to live with dignity.

Territorial jurisdiction (2020) In May 2020, Agarwal served on a three-judge bench that clarified the maintainability of writ petitions against authorities located outside Uttar Pradesh. The court ruled that jurisdiction is determined by where the cause of action arises, "wholly or in part," rather than the petitioner's place of residence.

COVID-19 relief (2020) In June 2020, a two-judge bench, including Agarwal, ordered the release of individuals arrested for violating social distancing protocols while distributing food to COVID-affected individuals. The court observed that public awareness was preferable to incarceration, particularly given prison overcrowding during the pandemic.

Zhenhua data leak In September 2020, the Indian Express disclosed that Agarwal was one of 30 judges, as well as several other Indian political leaders, CEOs, sportsmen and women, who were being monitored in a mass surveillance project by Zhenhua Data, a Shenzhen-based analytics company. The news of the Zhenhua data leak was widely reported, with several Indian newspapers suggesting that Zhenhua Data had close links to the Chinese government, in the context of the 2020 China-India skirmishes.