Jammu, Apr 18 : The collegium of the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh, headed by Chief Justice Arun Palli, has recommended 11 names for appointment against vacant posts of Judges in the High Court.
Reliable sources told that the list comprises 10 candidates from the Bar quota and one from the Bench quota. Notably, this is the first time that such a large number of recommendations have been processed in a single exercise by the High Court.
Sources said Chief Justice Arun Palli held detailed consultations with senior judges Justice Sanjeev Kumar and Justice Sindhu Sharma before finalising the list, which has been forwarded to J&K Lok Bhawan with copies sent to the Supreme Court Collegium and the Union Ministry of Law and Justice.
They added that the exercise, carried out over the past several days, focused on ensuring balanced representation from different regions and sections of society.
According to sources, the Bar quota recommendations include Vishal Sharma (Assistant Solicitor General of India, Jammu), Namgyal Wangchuk, Jahangir Iqbal Ganai, Pawan Kumar Kundal, Tahir Majid Shamshi (Deputy Solicitor General of India, Srinagar), Tabasum Zafar, Anupam Raina, Vikram Kumar Sharma, Amit Gupta (former Additional Advocate General) and Pranav Kohli. Additionally, senior judicial officer Yash Paul Bourney, presently member J&K Tribunal, has also been recommended from the Bench quota.
Sources further stated that the inclusion of Tabasum Zafar from Kashmir under the women advocates’ representation is significant, and if cleared, it would mark the first-ever elevation of a woman advocate from Kashmir to the High Court of J&K and Ladakh.
It is pertinent to mention that the High Court is currently functioning with 13 Judges against a sanctioned strength of 25, leaving 12 vacancies, most of which are to be filled from the Bar quota. The ongoing exercise aims to address this shortage.
At present, the High Court has 13 Judges including Chief Justice Arun Palli, among them Justice Sanjeev Kumar, Justice Sindhu Sharma, Justice Rajnesh Oswal, Justice Sanjay Dhar, Justice Mohammad Akram Chowdhary, Justice Rahul Bharti, Justice Moksha Khajuria Kazmi, Justice Wasim Sadiq Nargal, Justice Rajesh Sekhri, Justice Mohammad Yousuf Wani, Justice Sanjay Parihar and Justice Shahzad Azeem.
Justice Javed Iqbal Wani had superannuated on March 23 this year, reducing the strength to 13 Judges.
Earlier, in November 2024, the Union Ministry of Law and Justice, in consultation with the Chief Justice of India, had enhanced the sanctioned strength of the High Court from 17 to 25 Judges, including 19 permanent and 6 additional Judges, to tackle rising pendency of cases.
As per procedure, the Supreme Court Collegium will now examine the recommendations and forward them to the Union Ministry of Law and Justice for further clearance. Thereafter, the proposal will move to the Prime Minister’s Office and finally to the President of India for issuance of appointment warrants.
