SRINAGAR: The Collegium of the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh has given its approval for the appointment of Advocate Mohsin Qadri as a Judge, and the official recommendation is expected to be sent to the Supreme Court Collegium and Law Ministry soon.
According to official sources, “the collegium meeting, presided over by Chief Justice N. Kotiswar Singh and attended by Justice Tashi Rabstan and Justice Atul Sreedharan, cleared the name of Advocate Qadri two days ago.” They also mentioned, “there is currently one vacancy in the High Court due to the retirement of Justice Ali Mohammad Magrey. Additionally, there is another Judicial Officer vacancy anticipated in November this year due to the forthcoming retirement of Justice Mohan Lal Manhas.”
Furthermore, the sources revealed that the collegium extensively discussed the case of the senior-most Judicial Officer, Mohammad Yousuf Wani, who is presently on deputation as a member of the J&K Special Tribunal in Srinagar. Wani is likely to be appointed to the vacancy arising after the retirement of Justice Mohan Lal Manhas. The collegium has established a committee for this purpose and has initiated the evaluation process.
“The recommendation for Advocate Qadri will be sent to the collegium shortly, while the one for Wani will be initiated after the conclusion of the evaluation process, which may take some time,” the source further added.
Concurrently, the collegium has also commenced the process of confirming Justice Rahul Bharti, who currently serves as an Additional Judge. All pertinent documents concerning his confirmation, including significant judgments delivered by Justice Bharti, will soon be forwarded to the Supreme Court Collegium and the Union Law Ministry.
As of now, the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh has a sanctioned strength of 17 judges, comprising 13 Permanent Judges and 4 Additional Judges. Among them are Chief Justice N. Kotiswar Singh, Justice Tashi Rabstan, 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 Mohan Lal, Justice Mohd Akram Chowdhary, Justice Rahul Bharti, Justice Moksha Khajuria Kazmi, Justice Wasim Sadiq Nargal, and Justice Rajesh Sekhri.
