SC Collegium recommends four names for elevation to Jammu & Kashmir High Court

The Supreme Court Collegium today recommended the names of three Advocates and one Judicial Officer for appointment as Judges of the Jammu & Kashmir High Court.

The three lawyers are Wasim Sadiq Nargal, Nazir Ahmed Beig and Sindhu Sharma while the judicial officer is Rashid Ali Dar.

The candidature of one more lawyer, Showkat Ahmad Makroo was also considered but was deferred for the time being.

The above recommendations were made by the then Chief Justice of the Jammu & Kashmir High Court on August 24, 2017, in consultation with his two senior-most colleagues.

The resolution passed today by Supreme Court Collegium states that there is no judge currently in Supreme Court versant with the affairs of the Jammu & Kashmir High Court to ascertain suitability of the above-named recommendees. Hence,

“In order to assess merit and suitability of the above-named recommendees for elevation to the High Court, we have carefully scrutinized the material placed in the file which includes the views of the Chief Minister and the Governor for the State of Jammu & Kashmir, complaints against the recommendations and reports / comments thereon of the Intelligence Agencies, their age, income, statistics of reported / unreported judgments and pro bono cases handled by the Bar members, as well as the observations made by the Department of Justice in the file.”

The Collegium also invited all the five candidates to have an interaction with them.

“…we invited all the recommendees with a view to have an interaction with them. On the basis of the interaction we had with the recommendees and having regard to all relevant factors, the Collegium is of the considered view that S/Shri (1) Shri Wasim Sadiq Nargal, (2) Shri Nazir Ahmed Beig, (3) Smt. Sindhu Sharma, Advocates and (4) Shri Rashid Ali Dar, Judicial Officer are suitable for being appointed as Judges of the Jammu & Kashmir High Court.”

Regarding the candidature of Showkat Ahmad Makroo, the resolution states,

“having regard to the material on record, we are of the considered view that consideration of his case can wait. The proposal for his elevation is accordingly deferred for the present.”

Read the resolution below.