ET Plus Report Jammu, Mar 8: Chief Justice, High Court of Jammu and Kashmir, Justice Mahesh Mittal Kumar, administered oath to newly appointed judges of the High Court here today. Justice Ali Mohammad Magrey and Justice Dhiraj Singh Thakur took oath as Judges while Justice Tashi Rabstan, Justice Bansi Lal Bhat and Justice Janak Raj Kotwal were administered oath as additional Judges of the High Court. Earlier, Registrar General of the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir, Suresh Kumar Sharma, read out both English and Urdu versions of the warrants of appointment by the President. Justice Virender Singh, Justice Mansoor Ahmad Mir, Justice J.P. Singh, Justice Mohammad Yaqoob Mir, Justice Muzaffar Hussain Attar and Justice Hasnain Massodi were present at the ceremony. Besides, Minister for Rural Development and Panchayats, Ali Mohammad Sagar, Minister for Medical Education, Sports and Youth Services, Taj Mohi-ud-Din, Minister for Urban Development and Urban Local Bodies, Nawang Rigzin Jora, Minister for PHE, Irrigation and Flood Control, Sham Lal Sharma, Minister for Higher Education, Akbar Lone, Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, Mir Saifullah, Minister of State Science and Technology and Information Technology (Independent Charge) Feroz Khan, Advocate General, MLAs, Chief Secretary Iqbaq Khandey, Principal Secretary Planning, Judicial officers of the district judiciary, members of the Bar Association and senior officers of Civil and Police Departments also participated in the ceremony. It is for the first time that five Judges have been simultaneously appointed to the State High Court taking the strength of Judges from seven to 12. Besides, Justice Tashi Rabstan is the first Judge of High Court from Ladakh region. Ali Mohammad Magrey has had a long stint as standing counsel of various departments of the Government. Before his appointment as Judge of the High Court he worked as senior Additional Advocate General for the Government. Justice Dhiraj Singh Thakur worked as Senior Advocate besides serving as senior standing counsel for Income Tax, University of Jammu, J&K State Board of School Education, Reserve Bank of India and host of other Institutions. Justice Tashi Rabstan, with over 23 years of experience as an independent lawyer, served in the Bar Council of J&K. He was Central Govt. counsel, standing counsel for Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council, Leh and Panel counsel for Union Public Service Commission, New Delhi. Justice Bansi Lal Bhat served as Principal District and Sessions Judge in both capital cities of Jammu and Srinagar besides Poonch, Reasi and Kathua. He was appointed as Special Judge of the newly created anti corruption court for trial of CBI cases. Justice Janak Raj Kotwal served as Special Judge Anti Corruption Court, Jammu, Registrar Judicial, Principal Secretary to Chief Justice, Registrar Vigilance and Registrar General J&K High Court. |