JAMMU, Jan 14: Supreme Court collegium has rejected the recommendation of the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh to appoint Advocate Mohsin Qadri as High Court Judge.
Reliable sources said, the Apex Court collegium headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and also comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and B R Gavai besides other issues discussed the case of Advocate Qadri and unanimously decided to reject the recommendation made by the J&K High Court.
“Based on feedback obtained by collegium from consultee Judges and the reports shared by Union Law Ministry, the collegium has decided to return recommendation of Advocate Qadri”, sources asserted.
Source said, “the collegium also discussed case of Judicial Officer Mohammad Yousuf Wani, whose name had also been recommended along with Advocate Qadri by the J&K High Court in July,2023 and his file is still under consultation process”.
Sources also confirmed, “in the same meeting held on January 5, this year the Supreme Court collegium headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud had recommended the names of Additional Judges — Justices Rahul Bharti and Moksha Khajuria Kazmi, both from the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court, for appointment as Permanent Judges. “Union Law Ministry is likely to issue a formal notification in this regard soon”, sources said.
“With the rejection of name of Advocate Qadri, a vacancy has been created in the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh and now the process has to be initiated afresh for filling up of this vacancy”, sources elaborated.
Mohammad Yousuf Wani is presently on deputation as member, J&K Special Tribunal, Srinagar. “Mr Wani is likely to be inducted against the vacancy created due to retirement of Justice Mohan Lal Manhas in November 2023, if his file is cleared by SC collegium after considering reports from Union Law Ministry”, sources said.
The High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh has a sanctioned strength of 17 Judges including 13 Permanent Judges and 4 Additional Judges.
Presently, the High Court has 11 Permanent Judges including Chief Justice N. Kotiswar Singh. Other Judges include Justice Tashi Rabstan, Justice Atul Sreedharan, 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 Mohd Akram Chowdhary, Justice Rahul Bharti, Justice Moksha Khajuria Kazmi, Justice Wasim Sadiq Nargal and Justice Rajesh Sekhri.
