J&K&L High Court Collegium Recommends 11 Names For Appointment As Judges
LIVELAW NEWS NETWORK
18 April 2026 9:41 AM IST
The Collegium of the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh, headed by Chief Justice Arun Palli, has recommended 11 names for appointment as Judges of the High Court, the first time such a large number of appointments have been processed in a single exercise by the High Court. The recommendations include 10 advocates from the Bar quota and one judicial officer from the Bench quota.
The High Court is presently functioning with 13 Judges against a sanctioned strength of 25, leaving 12 vacancies, including 10 from the Bar quota. In November 2024, the Union Ministry of Law and Justice, in consultation with the Chief Justice of India, increased the sanctioned strength of the High Court from 17 to 25 Judges, comprising 19 permanent Judges and 6 additional Judges.
The Recommendations
The Collegium has recommended the following advocates from the Bar quota: Vishal Sharma (presently 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.
In a notable development, the name of advocate Tabasum Zafar from Kashmir has been recommended to give representation to women advocates. If accepted, this will mark the first instance of a woman from Kashmir being appointed as a Judge of the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh.
The senior-most judicial officer, Yash Paul Bourney, who is presently a member of the J&K Tribunal, has also been recommended for elevation from the Bench quota.
The Chief Justice held extensive consultations with the senior-most Judges Justice Sanjeev Kumar and Justice Sindhu Sharma regarding all probable candidates before sending the final list to J&K Lok Bhawan, with a copy to the Supreme Court Collegium and the Union Law Ministry. The process, which was ongoing for several days, focused on giving representation to all regions and different sections of society.
As per the established procedure, the Supreme Court Collegium will take a decision on the recommendations of the J&K High Court and then forward the names to the Union Ministry of Law and Justice for clearance. Thereafter, the list will be submitted to the Prime Minister's Office for final approval of the Union Government and subsequently to the President of India for the issuance of the warrant of appointment.
The present strength of the High Court includes Chief Justice Arun Palli and 12 other Judges: 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. On March 23, Justice Javed Iqbal Wani superannuated, reducing the strength to 13.