Archive · 9 Sep 2026
Ladakh LG to Administer Oath to New J&K Chief Justice
Justice Pushpendra Singh Bhati is becoming the new chief judge of a High Court shared by Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
Ladakh’s Lieutenant Governor, Vinai Kumar Saxena, will give him the official oath.
This is unusual because the Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor normally performs that ceremony.
Manoj Sinha, the Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor, is currently away.
Saxena has temporarily taken on Sinha’s duties as well as his own.
A new rule also allows the High Court to have a bench in Ladakh.
That bench has not opened yet and still needs buildings and other arrangements.
If it opens, people in Ladakh may not need to travel as far for High Court cases.
Ladakh Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena will administer Justice Pushpendra Singh Bhati’s oath on September 9 at Srinagar’s SKICC.
Bhati, a senior Rajasthan High Court judge, succeeds Justice Sanjeev Kumar as Chief Justice of the shared J&K and Ladakh High Court.
This is the first time since Ladakh became a Union Territory in 2019 that its Lieutenant Governor will conduct the ceremony.
Saxena is handling Jammu and Kashmir’s Lieutenant Governor duties while Manoj Sinha is on leave and abroad.
The development follows approval of a regulation allowing a High Court bench to sit in Ladakh, though the physical bench has not yet been established.
- Who
- Justice Pushpendra Singh Bhati, Vinai Kumar Saxena, and Manoj Sinha are the principal officials involved.
- What
- Justice Bhati will take the oath as Chief Justice of the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, with Saxena administering it.
- When
- The ceremony is scheduled for 11 a.m. on September 9; the article identifies the year as 2026.
- Where
- The ceremony will take place at the Sher-i-Kashmir International Convention Centre in Srinagar.
- Why
- Saxena is administering the oath because Sinha is abroad and on leave, while the arrangement also reflects Ladakh’s expanding institutional role and the planned High Court bench there.
- Appointee
- Justice Pushpendra Singh Bhati
- Office
- Chief Justice of the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh
- Oath administrator
- Vinai Kumar Saxena, Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh
- Ceremony
- September 9 at 11 a.m. at Srinagar’s Sher-i-Kashmir International Convention Centre
- Predecessor
- Justice Sanjeev Kumar, who has served as Acting Chief Justice since June 2
- Ladakh bench
- A regulation allowing a High Court bench to sit in Ladakh came into force on September 5, but the physical bench is not yet established
- Additional charge
- Saxena is temporarily discharging the functions of Jammu and Kashmir’s Lieutenant Governor during Manoj Sinha’s absence