Examiner Bureau | Leh:
Chief Justice of India Surya Kant on Sunday inaugurated the newly constituted Ladakh Bench of the Jammu Kashmir and Ladakh High Court in Leh, marking a significant step towards improving access to justice for people in the Union Territory. Hearings before the bench are scheduled to begin on October 21.
Supreme Court judges Justice M.M. Sundresh, Justice P.S. Narasimha and Justice Arun Palli, along with judges of the High Court, attended the inauguration. Attorney General for India R. Venkatramani and Ladakh Lieutenant Governor V.K. Saxena were also present.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Pushpendra Singh Bhati and Justice Sanjay Parihar is scheduled to hear five cases on October 21. Justice Parihar will also preside over a single-judge bench on October 22 and 23.
The High Court has identified 75 cases for listing before the Ladakh Bench.
The Union Government approved the establishment of the bench in August this year. Subsequently, on October 5, the High Court selected Leh as the venue for its sittings in Ladakh.
Before the constitution of the new bench, the Jammu Kashmir and Ladakh High Court operated from its existing benches in Srinagar and Jammu. The Ladakh Bench will function as part of the same High Court, which serves both Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
Ladakh became a separate Union Territory in 2019 following the reorganisation of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.
The establishment of the bench is expected to make High Court services more accessible to litigants in Ladakh, where vast distances and challenging geographical conditions can make travel to judicial institutions difficult.
