Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Apr 16: Justice Arun Palli was today sworn in as 38th Chief Justice of the High Court of J&K and Ladakh at an impressive ceremony held at Convention Centre, Canal Road here.
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The oath of the office was administered by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha at a function attended by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, Speaker of the Legislative Assembly Abdul Rahim Rather, Judges of the High Court, subordinate judiciary and other dignitaries.
Earlier, the warrant of appointment was read out by M K Sharma, Principal Secretary to the Chief Justice.
On April 12, Union Ministry of Law and Justice issued notification regarding appointment of Justice Palli as Chief Justice of the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh days following retirement of Chief Justice Tashi Rabstan. Justice Rabstan retired from service on April 9 and accordingly Justice Sanjeev Kumar was serving as the acting Chief Justice since then.
On April 4, the Supreme Court Collegium led by Chief Justice Sanjeev Khanna had recommended Justice Palli of the Punjab and Haryana High Court for the position of Chief Justice of the Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court.
Born on September 18, 1964, Justice Palli graduated in Commerce and completed his Bachelor of Law from Panjab University, Chandigarh, in 1988 and commenced his legal practice at the High Court of Punjab and Haryana.
He gained expertise across diverse areas of law including civil, criminal, constitutional, revenue, industrial and labour law. He was appointed Additional Advocate General for Punjab on September 1, 2004, a position he held until March 2007.
He was designated as a Senior Advocate on April 26, 2007. He served as Amicus Curiae in various contentious matters before the High Court. He dealt with diverse subjects and matters having important legal propositions before Division and Full Benches. He also appeared before the Supreme Court, Delhi High Court and also argued several important matters in the High Court of Himachal Pradesh.
He was elevated to the Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court on December 28, 2013. He was serving as Executive Chairman of Haryana State Legal Service Authority since 31.5.2023 and was nominated as a Member of the Governing Body of the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) on October 31, 2023, for two years.
Justice Sanjeev Kumar, Justice Sindhu Sharma, Justice Sanjay Dhar, Justice Javed Iqbal Wani, Justice Mohd Akram Chowdhary, Justice Wasim Sadiq Nargal, Justice Rajesh Sekhri, Judges of the High Court of J&K and Ladakh attended the ceremony physically whereas Justice Rajnesh Oswal, Justice Vinod Chatterji Koul, Justice Rahul Bharti, Justice Moksha Khajuria Kazmi and Justice Mohd Yousuf Wani attended the swearing-in-ceremony virtually from Srinagar Wing of the High Court.
Justice Krishna Murari, former Judge Supreme Court of India, the Chief Justice, High Court of Himachal Pradesh, former Chief Justices, former/sitting Judges of the High Courts of Punjab & Haryana, Rajasthan and former Judges of High Court J&K and Ladakh, Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Kumar Chowdhary, Ministers from UT of J&K and Member Parliament Ghulam Ali Khatana graced the occasion.
Chief Secretaries of the UTs of J&K and Ladakh, Director General of Police, UT of J&K, Secretary to Government, Department of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs and other senior officers of the civil and police administration were present on the occasion. Members of Central Administrative Tribunal, Member Armed Forces Tribunal, DSGI Jammu, DSGI Kashmir, Senior Advocates, Government Advocates, President HCBA Jammu Nirmal Kotwal along with other office bearers and Advocates, Registry officers as well as Judicial Officers also attended the ceremony.
The oath ceremony was specially graced by the presence of spouse, mother-in-law, other family members, relatives and special invitees of the Chief Justice.
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