High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh

The High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh[2][3] is the common high court for union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. It was established as the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir on 26 March 1928 by the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir. The seat of the court shifts between the summer capital Srinagar and winter capital Jammu. The court has a sanctioned judge strength of 17, 13 of whom are permanent judges, and 4 are additional judges.[4][5] Since 13 February 2023, the chief justice of the court is N. Kotiswar Singh.[6]

High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh
Logo of High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh
Established26 March 1928; 96 years ago (1928-03-26)[1]
JurisdictionJammu and Kashmir and Ladakh
LocationSrinagar Wing (Summer) and Jammu Wing (Winter)
Composition methodPresidential with confirmation of Chief Justice of India and governor of respective state
Authorized byConstitution of India
Appeals toSupreme Court of India
Judge term lengthMandatory retirement at the age of 62
Number of positions17 (13 Permanent Judges and 4 Additional Judges)
Websitewww.jkhighcourt.nic.in
Chief Justice
CurrentlyN. Kotiswar Singh
Since15 February 2023

History

The High Court of Jammu and Kashmir was established by Order No. 1, issued by Maharaja Hari Singh on 26 March 1928. The Maharaja appointed Lala Kanwar Sain as the first chief justice, and Lala Bodh Raj Sawhney and Khan Sahib Aga Syed Hussain as puisne judges.[7] The High Court sat at both the winter capital of Jammu, and the summer capital of Srinagar. The Maharaja conferred letters patent on the High Court on 10 September 1943.

Puisne judge Khan Sahib Aga Syed Hussain[8] was the first Muslim judge of the High Court. He retired as Home and Judicial Minister of Jammu and Kashmir during the Maharaja Rule.[9]

In August 2018, the High Court got its first and second woman judges with Justice Sindhu Sharma, who was appointed a judge, and Justice Gita Mittal, who was appointed the chief justice.[citation needed]

In August 2019, a Reorganisation Bill was passed by both houses of the Indian Parliament. This bill reorganised the state of Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories—Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh—as of 31 October 2019. After this reorganisation, the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir continued serving as the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh for both union territories.

Tashi Rabstan was appointed as the Acting Chief Justice of the High Court on 8 December 2022.[10]

List of former chief justices

List of former chief justices
#Chief JusticeTerm
1Kanwar Sain27 April 1928–16 February 1931
2Birjor Dalal16 February 1931–24 November 1936
3Abdul Qayoom24 November 1936–20 July 1940
4Rachpal Singh13 August 1940–6 March 1942
5Ganga Nath24 June 1942–23 October 1945
6S.K. Ghose29 March 1946–29 March 1948
7Janki Nath Wazir30 March 1948–2 December 1967
8Syed Murtaza Fazl Ali3 December 1967–1 April 1975
9Raja Jaswant Singh2 April 1975–23 January 1976
10M.R.A. Ansari23 January 1976–8 November 1977
11Mian Jalal-ud-Din15 February 1978–22 February 1980
12Mufti Baha-ud-Din7 March 1983–23 August 1983
13Vazhakkulangarayil Khalid24 August 1983–24 June 1984
14Adarsh Sein Anand11 May 1985–23 October 1989
15S.S. Kang24 October 1989–14 May 1993
16S.C. Mathur10 October 1993–17 March 1994
17S. Sagir Ahmed18 March 1994–22 September 1994
18M. Ramakrishna10 October 1994–15 June 1997
19Bhawani Singh16 June 1997–21 February 2000
20B.P. Saraf21 February 2000–22 August 2001
21H.K. Sema12 September 2001–8 April 2002
22B.C. Patel16 May 2002–4 March 2003
23S.N. Jha4 February 2004–11 October 2005
24B.A. Khan25 January 2007–31 March 2007
25K.S. Radhakrishnan7 January 2008–28 August 2008
26Manmohan Sarin4 September 2008–19 October 2008
27Barin Ghosh3 January 2009–13 April 2010
28Dr. Aftab Hussain Saikia13 April 2010–6 April 2011
29F. M. Ibrahim Kalifulla24 February 2011–2 April 2012
30M. M. Kumar8 June 2012 – 4 January 2015
31N. Paul Vasanthakumar2 February 2015 – 14 March 2017
ActingRamalingam Sudhakar16 March 2018 – 31 March 2018
32Badar Durrez Ahmed1 April 2017 – 15 March 2018
ActingRamalingam Sudhakar16 March 2018 – 11 May 2018
ActingAlok Aradhe11 May 2018 – 11 August 2018
33Gita Mittal11 August 2018 – 8 December 2020
ActingRajesh Bindal9 December 2020 – 3 January 2021
34Pankaj Mithal4 January 2021 – 12 October 2022
35Ali Mohammad Magrey13 October 2022 – 7 December 2022
ActingTashi Rabstan8 December 2022 - 14 February 2023
36N. Kotiswar Singh15 February 2023 - Incumbent

Notable people

Jammu and Kashmir State Judicial Academy

In 2001, the High Court established its regular Judicial Academy via order No. 342, dated 26 July. Since then, Jammu and Kashmir State Judicial Academy functions regularly and holds training programmes.[11] Jammu and Kashmir State Judicial Academy has its own infrastructure in Jammu (in the premises of the High Court) and in Srinagar (Mominabad).

The administrative machinery of High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh moves to Srinagar, its summer capital, in April and Jammu, its winter capital, in November every year. In view of this tradition, Jammu and Kashmir State Judicial Academy also functions likewise from Jammu and Srinagar. It has infrastructures both in Jammu and Srinagar.[12][13]

References

Further reading