J&K and Ladakh HC to have 19 Permanent, 6 Addl Judges
Neeraj Rohmetra
JAMMU, Nov 6: Union Law Ministry has given its approval for increasing the sanctioned strength of Judges in the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh from 17 to 25.
Reliable sources told EXCELSIOR, ” the Law Ministry held consultations with the present Chief Justice of India about the proposal for increasing the strength of High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh and after consultations, it was decided to increase the total strength which would include 19 Permanent Judges and six Additional Judges”.
Presently, the High Court has strength of 17 Judges including 13 Permanent Judges and 4 Additional Judges .
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Sources further elaborated, “in January, 2022 the then Chief Justice of Jammu & Kashmir High Court had mooted the proposal regarding enhancement of the sanctioned strength from 17 to 25”, adding, “the need for increasing the strength was felt in view of increasing work load and rising pendency of cases”.
As per the sanctioned proposal, sources said, “the enhanced strength of the High Court will be divided in the ratio of 66.6% and 33.3% between the Bar and Service. Therefore, the share of member of Bar and Service would be 17 and eight respectively”.
As a sequel to this enhanced sanctioned strength, Jammu and Kashmir High Court Chief Justice will have to formulate a new proposal for prospective candidates to fill the new vacancies.
However, sources expressed concern over existing judicial infrastructure for Judges in Jammu and Kashmir. Presently, there are only 7 rooms in Jammu Wing and 8 rooms in Srinagar Wing of the High Court, which are being used by the Judges. “With likely appointment of eight more Judges, the infrastructure needs to be first upgraded at both Jammu and Srinagar. Besides, additional staff will be required for assisting the new Judges”, sources added.
It is pertinent to mention here that in 2014, the sanctioned strength of the Judges in J&K High Court was increased from 14 to 17 including Chief Justice.
Presently, the High Court has 12 Permanent Judges including Chief Justice Tashi Rabstan. Other Judges include, Justice Atul Sreedharan, Justice Sanjeev Kumar Shukla, Justice Sindhu Sharma, Justice Rajnesh Oswal, Justice Vinod Chatterji Koul, Justice Sanjay Dhar, Justice Puneet Gupta, Justice Javed Iqbal Wani, Justice Mohd Akram Chowdhary, Justice Rahul Bharti, Justice Moksha Khajuria Kazmi, Justice Wasim Sadiq Nargal, Justice Rajesh Sekhri and Justice Mohd Yousuf Wani.
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