Kashmir Impulse Desk
New Delhi, Sep 08
Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh Vinai Kumar Saxena has been given additional charge of Jammu and Kashmir during the leave of incumbent LG Manoj Sinha, the Rashtrapati Bhavan said on Tuesday.
Saxena will administer the oath of office to Justice Pushpendra Singh Bhati, the newly appointed Chief Justice of the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court, at a ceremony in Srinagar on Wednesday.
The additional assignment marks the first time since Ladakh became a Union Territory in August 2019 that its Lieutenant Governor will administer the oath to the High Court’s chief justice.
President Droupadi Murmu appointed LG Saxena to discharge the functions of the Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor in addition to his existing duties during LG Sinha’s absence on leave.
Officials said Sinha, who has served as Jammu and Kashmir’s lieutenant governor since August 2020, is currently in the United States, where he addressed the IIT (BHU) Global Alumni Meet in Chicago on Monday.
Murmu appointed Bhati, a Rajasthan High Court judge, as chief justice on September 5.
He will succeed Justice Sanjeev Kumar, who has been acting chief justice since June 2.
The Supreme Court Collegium had recommended Bhati for the post on August 31.
The appointment comes as a permanent bench of the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court has been established in Ladakh. A regulation providing for the bench to sit within the Union Territory came into force on September 5.
The move has been described by Saxena as a step towards bringing judicial services closer to people in the Himalayan region.
