Five new High Court Judges took oath

JAMMU, Mar 8:

Five newly appointed Judges of State High Court were today administered oath by Chief Justice M M Kumar, scripting historic event for judiciary of the State.

Judiciary in the State today witnessed for the first time simultaneous oath taking of five Judges to the High Court taking the strength of the Court Judges from seven to 12.

Five new Judges of the High Court, who were administered oath by Chief Justice Kumar at a function at High Court complex, included Bansi Lal Bhat– Special Judge Jammu CBI Court, Janak Raj Kotwal– Member J&K Special Tribunal, Jammu (both from Judges quota), Senior Additional Advocate General, Ali Mohammad Magray and senior High Court lawyers Dheeraj Singh Thakur and Tashi Rabstan (from Bar quota).

The warrants for appointment of the new Judges, which were signed by President, Pranab Mukherjee on March 6, were read at the oath taking function.

Governor N N Vohra authorised the Chief Justice Kumar for administering oath to new Judges.

With addition of five more Judges, High Court has now strength of 12 Judges against the sanctioned strength of 14 including the Chief Justice.

The sanctioned strength includes 9 Permanent Judges and five Additional Judges. (AGENCIES)