Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Feb 15: Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha today administered the oath of office to Justice Nongmeikapam Kotiswar Singh as Chief Justice of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court at an impressive oath ceremony.
The Warrant of Appointment of Justice N Kotiswar Singh as 36th Chief Justice of the J&K and Ladakh High Court was read out by the Registrar General Shahzad Azeem.
The oath ceremony was attended by Justice Tashi Rabstan, Justice Sanjeev Kumar, Justice Sindhu Sharma, Justice Rajnesh Oswal, Justice Vinod Chatterji Koul, Justice Sanjay Dhar, Justice Puneet Gupta, Justice Javed Iqbal Wani, Justice Mohan Lal, Justice Mohd Akram Chowdhary, Justice Rahul Bharti, Justice Moksha Khajuria Kazmi, Justice Wasim Sadiq Nargal and Justice Rajesh Sekhri and their spouses.
The ceremony was also graced by Advocate General D C Raina, Vishal Sharma, DSGI Jammu, Tahir Shamsi, DSGI, Kashmir, former Judges of the High Court, Senior Designated Advocates, Government Advocates, M K Bhardwaj, President HCBA along with other office bearers, Sanjay Parihar, Principal District & Sessions Judge, Jammu, M K Sharma, Principal Secretary to Chief Justice, other Registry Officers as well as Senior Judicial Officers.
Among other dignitaries who attended the oath ceremony included spouse of Chief Justice Vijayalakshmi Brara, daughters Vasundhara Nongmeikapam and Vatsala Nongmeikapam, mother Gomati Devi Nongmeikapam and mother-in-law Kamlesh Rani besides close relatives and friends.
The ceremony was live streamed on YouTube and was also attended physically by the dignitaries and the senior officers/officials of the UT Administration including the Chief Secretary, Additional Chief Secretary (Home), Director General of Police, Law Secretary and other officers.
Justice Kotiswar Singh was designated as a Senior Advocate in 2008 and served as the Advocate General of the State of Manipur from November 2007 till his elevation to the Bench in October 2011. He was appointed as a Judge of the Gauhati High Court in November 2012.
He was appointed as a Judge of the Manipur High Court upon its creation with effect from 23rd March, 2013. Later on, in 2017 he was appointed to perform the duties of the office of Chief Justice of the High Court of Manipur. On transfer to Gauhati High Court, Justice Kotiswar assumed charge as a Judge, Gauhati High Court on 11.10.2018.
He served as the Acting Chief Justice of Gauhati High Court with effect from 21.09.2020 to 09.01.2021 and from 09.05.2022 to 22.06.2022.
Later, on his arrival at Jammu Wing of the High Court, the new Chief Justice was given ceremonial guard of honour. He was warmly received and welcomed by sitting Judges of the High Court, Registrar General, Registrar Vigilance, Registrar Rules, Registrar Judicial, Jammu, Member Secretary, J&K Legal Services Authority, Registrar (IT), Secretary, High Court Legal Services Committee, Joint Registrar Judicial, Jammu and Srinagar, besides, other Registry Officers, personal staff of the Chief Justice and other staff members of the High Court.
The Chief Justice also interacted with the officers of the Registry and other staff members.
Pertinently, there are 17 positions in the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir including Chief Justice. Of them 14 are Permanent Judges and 3 Additional Judges. With the appointment of Justice Nongmeikapam Kotiswar Singh as Chief Justice J&K & Ladakh High Court, the strength of the High Court Judges has gone up to 15 and only two posts are vacant now.
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