Notification out, SC gets two new judges, 1st from Manipur

Satya Prakash

New Delhi, July 16

Five days after the Supreme Court Collegium recommended the elevation of Chief Justice of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court Justice N Kotiswar Singh and Madras High Court Acting Chief Justice R Mahadevan, the Centre on Tuesday notified their appointment as judges of the top court.

Justice R Mahadevan

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• Serving as the Acting Chief Justice of the Madras High Court since May 2024
• Did LLB from Madras Law College, belongs to a backward community from Tamil Nadu
• Collegium says his appointment will bring diversity to the Bench

Justice N Kotiswar Singh

• Born on March 1, 1963, in Imphal, he did his law from the DU in 1986
• Appointed a judge of the Gauhati HC on October 17, 2011; transferred to Manipur HC in 2013
• Appointed J&K and Ladakh HC Chief Justice in February 2023

Justice Singh, who has been the Chief Justice of the J&K and Ladakh High Court since February 2023, is the first judge from Manipur to be elevated to the Supreme Court. After the two newly appointed judges take oath, the Supreme Court will reach its total sanctioned strength of 34 judges, including the CJI.

The Department of Justice also notified the appointment of Justice Tashi Rabstan, a judge of the Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court, as Acting Chief Justice of the same high court. It also notified the appointment of Justice D Krishnakumar, judge of the Madras High Court, to perform the duties of the office of the Chief Justice of that high court.

The Collegium had on Thursday recommended the appointment of Justice Singh and Justice Mahadevan as judges of the top court. “His (Justice Singh’s) appointment will provide representation to the North-East, and in particular he will be the first judge from Manipur to be appointed as a judge of the SC,” the Collegium resolution read.

With regard to the elevation of Justice Mahadevan, serving as the Acting Chief Justice of the Madras High Court since May 2024, the Collegium noted he belonged to a backward community from Tamil Nadu and his appointment would bring diversity to the Bench.

Born on March 1, 1963, at Imphal to (late) Justice N Ibotombi Singh of the Gauhati High Court, who was also the first Advocate General of Manipur, Justice Singh obtained his law degree from the DU in 1986 and got enrolled as an advocate with the Bar Council of Delhi. Later, he got it transferred to the roll of the Bar Council of Assam, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Manipur, Tripura, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim. He was appointed as a judge of the Gauhati High Court on October 17, 2011, and transferred to the Manipur HC after its creation in 2013. He was again transferred to the Gauhati HC on October 11, 2018, and appointed Chief Justice of the Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court in February 2023.

Justice Mahadevan completed the LLB from Madras Law College and got enrolled as an advocate in 1989. He practised on the civil, criminal and writ sides with specialisation in indirect taxes, customs and central excise matters for 25 years.