The High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh is the common high court for union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. It was established as the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir on 26 March 1928 by the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir.

History The High Court of Jammu and Kashmir was established by Order No. 1, issued by Maharaja Hari Singh on 26 March 1928. The Maharaja appointed Lala Kanwar Sain as the first chief justice, and Lala Bodh Raj Sawhney and Khan Sahib Aga Syed Hussain as puisne judges. The High Court sat at both the winter capital of Jammu, and the summer capital of Srinagar. The Maharaja conferred letters patent on the High Court on 10 September 1943.

Puisne judge Khan Sahib Aga Syed Hussain was the first Muslim judge of the High Court. He retired as Home and Judicial Minister of Jammu and Kashmir during the Maharaja's rule.

In August 2018, the High Court got its first and second woman judges with Justice Sindhu Sharma, who was appointed a judge, and Justice Gita Mittal, who was appointed the chief justice.

In August 2019, a Reorganisation Bill was passed by both houses of the Indian Parliament. This bill reorganised the state of Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories—Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh—as of 31 October 2019. After this reorganisation, the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir continued serving as the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh for both union territories.

Seat and benches The seat of the court shifts between the summer capital Srinagar and winter capital Jammu. Ladakh Bench In August 2026, the Union Cabinet approved the establishment of a bench of the High Court in Ladakh, intended to improve access to justice in the Union territory.

Chief justice and judges The high court has a sanctioned judge strength of 17, out of whom 13 are permanent judges, and 4 are additional judges. Justice Sanjeev Kumar is currently serving as the Acting Chief Justice of the high court since 2 June, 2026.

List of chief justices +List of former chief justices#PortraitChief JusticeTerm 1 Lala Kanwar Sain27 April 1928–16 February 1931 2 Birjor Dalal 16 February 1931–24 November 19363 Abdul Qayoom 24 November 1936–20 July 19404 Rachpal Singh 13 August 1940–6 March 19425 Ganga Nath 24 June 1942–23 October 19456 Sarat Kumar Ghosh29 March 1946–29 March 19487 Janki Nath Wazir 30 March 1948–2 December 19678 Syed Murtaza Fazl Ali3 December 1967–1 April 19759 Raja Jaswant Singh 2 April 1975–23 January 197610 Muhammed Rafeeudin Ahmed Ansari23 January 1976–8 November 197711 Mian Jalal-ud-Din 15 February 1978–22 February 198012 Mufti Baha-ud-Din 7 March 1983–23 August 198313 Vazhakkulangarayil Khalid 24 August 1983–24 June 198414 Adarsh Sein Anand 11 May 1985–23 October 198915 Sukhdev Singh Kang 24 October 1989–14 May 199316Satish Chandra Mathur 10 October 1993–17 March 199417 Saiyed Saghir Ahmad 18 March 1994–22 September 199418 Muniyallapa Ramakrishna 10 October 1994–15 June 199719 Bhawani Singh 16 June 1997–21 February 200020 Bhagwati Prasad Saraf 21 February 2000–22 August 200121 Hotoi Khetoho Sema 12 September 2001–8 April 200222 Babulal Chandulal Patel 16 May 2002–4 March 200323 Sachchidanand Jha 4 February 2004–11 October 200524 Bashir Ahmed Khan 25 January 2007–31 March 200725Kalavamkodath Sivasankara Panicker Radhakrishnan 7 January 2008–28 August 200826 Manmohan Sarin 4 September 2008–19 October 200827 Barin Ghosh 3 January 2009–13 April 201028 Aftab Hussain Saikia 13 April 2010–6 April 201129 Fakir Mohamed Ibrahim Kalifulla 24 February 2011–2 April 2012Acting Virender Singh 2 April 2012–7 June 201230Mahesh Mittal Kumar8 June 2012 – 4 January 201531N. Paul Vasanthakumar2 February 2015 – 14 March 2017ActingRamalingam Sudhakar15 March 2017 – 31 March 201732Badar Durrez Ahmed1 April 2017 – 15 March 2018ActingRamalingam Sudhakar16 March 2018 – 11 May 2018ActingAlok Aradhe 11 May 2018 – 11 August 201833Gita Mittal11 August 2018 – 8 December 2020ActingRajesh Bindal 9 December 2020 – 3 January 202134Pankaj Mithal4 January 2021 – 12 October 202235Ali Mohammad Magrey13 October 2022 – 7 December 2022ActingTashi Rabstan8 December 2022 – 14 February 202336Nongmeikapam Kotiswar Singh15 February 2023 – 17 July 2024ActingTashi Rabstan18 July 2024 – 26 September 202437Tashi Rabstan27 September 2024 – 9 April 2025ActingSanjeev Kumar 10 April 2025 – 15 April 202538Arun Palli16 April 2025 – 1 June 2026ActingSanjeev Kumar 2 June 2026 – 8 September 202639Pushpendra Singh Bhati9 September 2026 – Incumbent

Judges elevated as Chief Justices

This sections contains list of only those judges elevated as chief justices whose parent high court is Jammu & Kashmir. This includes those judges who, at the time of appointment as chief justice, may not be serving in Jammu & Kashmir High Court but this list does not include judges who at the time of appointment as chief justice were serving in Jammu & Kashmir High Court but does not have Jammu & Kashmir as their Parent High Court.

Colour Key

Symbol Key Elevated to Supreme Court of India Resigned Died in office NameImageAppointed as CJ in HC ofDate of appointmentDate of retirementTenureRef..As JudgeAs Chief JusticeAs Chief JusticeAs JudgeJanki Nath WazirJammu & KashmirSyed Murtaza Fazl AliJammu & KashmirRaja Jaswant SinghJammu & KashmirMian Jalal-ud-DinJammu & KashmirMufti Baha-ud-DinJammu & KashmirAdarsh Sein AnandJammu & Kashmir, transferred to MadrasRam Prakash SethiKarnatakaVinod Kumar GuptaJharkhand, transferred to Himachal Pradesh then to UttarakhandBashir Ahmed KhanJammu & KashmirTirath Singh ThakurPunjab & HaryanaBilal NazkiOrissaNisar Ahmad KakruAndhra PradeshPermod KohliSikkimMansoor Ahmad MirHimachal PradeshMohammad Yaqoob MirMeghalayaAli Mohammad MagreyJammu & KashmirDhiraj Singh ThakurAndhra PradeshTashi RabstanJammu & Kashmir

Judges appointed as Acting Chief Justice NameAppointed as ACJ in HC ofDate of appointment as JudgePeriod as Acting Chief JusticeDate of retirementTenure as ACJTenure as JudgeRemarksRef..Mian Jalal-ud-DinJammu & KashmirBecame permanentMufti Baha-ud-DinJammu & KashmirA. S. AnandJammu & KashmirBecame permanentS. M. RizviJammu & Kashmir --R. P. SethiPunjab & HaryanaElevated as CJ of KarnatakaV. K. GuptaJharkhandBecame permanentBashir Ahmed KhanDelhiTransferred to Jammu & KashmirJammu & KashmirBecame permanentT. S. ThakurDelhi --Bilal NazkiAndhra Pradesh --Transferred to BombayRattan Chand GandhiRajasthan --N. A. KakruJammu & KashmirM. A. MirHimachal PradeshBecame permanentM. Y. MirJammu & Kashmir --Tashi RabstanJammu & KashmirBecame permanentSanjeev KumarJammu & KashmirIncumbent --

Judges elevated to Supreme Court This section includes the list of only those judges whose parent high court was Jammu & Kashmir. This includes those judges who, at the time of elevation to Supreme Court of India, may not be serving in Jammu & Kashmir High Court but this list does not include judges who at the time of elevation were serving in Jammu & Kashmir High Court but does not have Jammu & Kashmir as their Parent High Court.

Colour Key

Key Resigned Died in office #Name of the JudgeImageDate of AppointmentDate of RetirementTenureImmediately preceding officeIn Parent High CourtIn Supreme CourtIn High Court(s)In Supreme CourtTotal tenure1Syed Murtaza Fazl Ali8th CJ of Jammu & Kashmir HC2Raja Jaswant Singh9th CJ of Jammu & Kashmir HC3Adarsh Sein Anand24th CJ of Madras HC4Ram Prakash Sethi18th CJ of Karnataka HC5Tirath Singh Thakur28th CJ of Punjab & Haryana HC

Notable people

Hakim Imtiyaz Hussain (born 1949), former Jammu and Kashmir High Court judge

Jammu and Kashmir State Judicial Academy

In 2001, the High Court established its regular Judicial Academy via order No. 342, dated 26 July. Since then, Jammu and Kashmir State Judicial Academy functions regularly and holds training programmes. Jammu and Kashmir State Judicial Academy has its own infrastructure in Jammu (in the premises of the High Court) and in Srinagar (Mominabad).

The administrative machinery of High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh moves to Srinagar, its summer capital, in April and Jammu, its winter capital, in November every year. In view of this tradition, Jammu and Kashmir State Judicial Academy also functions likewise from Jammu and Srinagar. It has infrastructures both in Jammu and Srinagar.

References

Further reading Jurisdiction and Seats of Indian High Courts Judge strength in High Courts increased

External links Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court official website