JAMMU, October 30, 2026 – The Supreme Court Collegium, headed by the Chief Justice of India, has officially approved the names of nine advocates for elevation as Judges of the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh. However, the Collegium did not clear one name out of the 10 recommended from the Bar quota.
According to the official resolution posted on the Supreme Court website, the approved advocates are Vishal Sharma, Vikram Kumar Sharma, Namgyal Wangchuk, Pawan Kumar Kundal, Tahir Majid Shamsi, Tabasum Zafar, Amit Gupta, Pranav Kohli, and Anupam Raina.
Sources indicate that while the J&K High Court collegium had initially recommended 10 advocates, the name of advocate Jahangir Iqbal Ganai was notably missing from the approved list. The resolution did not provide specific reasons for dropping his name.
The SC Collegium, comprising Chief Justice of India Justice Surya Kant alongside his two senior-most colleagues, Justice Vikram Nath and Justice B.V. Nagarathna, conducted interactions with the candidates on Thursday evening. Reliable sources stated that the cordial interaction process commenced around 4:30 PM, with each candidate given nearly 10 minutes, and concluded at approximately 6:30 PM.
It is pertinent to mention that earlier this year, in April, the HC collegium headed by then Chief Justice Arun Palli had recommended 11 names (10 from the Bar quota and 1 from the Bench quota) to fill the vacant posts in a single, massive exercise.
Yash Paul Bourney, the senior-most judicial officer recommended under the Bench quota, was cleared by the SC Collegium on September 10 and formally appointed by the Union Government on September 19. Furthermore, on October 1, the HC collegium, now under the chairmanship of Chief Justice Dr. Pushpendra Singh Bhati, also recommended the name of Senior Judicial Officer Mohinder Kumar Sharma for appointment.
The newly approved recommendations for the nine advocates will now be forwarded to the Union Ministry of Law and Justice, which will process them for the final notification of appointment.
Published by True Roots Media Network