CJI-led Collegium recommends J&K and Ladakh High Court Chief Justice Kotiswar, Madras High Court Acting Chief Justice Mahadevan for elevation to SC
Satya Prakash
New Delhi, July 11
The Supreme Court Collegium led by CJI DY Chandrachud on Thursday recommended the appointment of Chief Justice of the High Court for Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh Justice N Kotiswar Singh and Madras High Court Acting Chief Justice R Mahadevan as judges of the top court.
Justice Singh – who has been the Chief Justice of the High Court for Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh since February 2023 – will be the first judge from Manipur to be elevated to the Supreme Court.
“His appointment as a Judge of the Supreme Court will provide representation to the North-East, and in particular he will be the first Judge from the State of Manipur to be appointed as a Judge of the Supreme Court,” the collegium resolution read.
With regard to the elevation of Justice Mahadevan – who has been serving as the Acting Chief Justice of the Madras High Court since May 2024 — the Collegium noted that belonged to a backward community from Tamil Nadu and his appointment will bring diversity to the Bench.
“The Collegium has taken due note of the fact that Mr Justice R Mahadevan ranks third in the order of presently serving judges of the Madras High Court including the Judges who have been posted as Chief Justices outside the Madras High Court. At this stage, the Collegium has given precedence to the candidature of Mr Justice R Mahadevan in order to give representation to the backward community,” the Collegium resolution read.
If the Collegium’s recommendations are accepted by the Centre and these two appointments are notified, it will take the Supreme Court’s actual strength to 34 judges – which is its total sanctioned strength.
Noting that Justice Singh has an “impeccable record”—both on judicial and administrative side—as the Chief Justice of the High Court for Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, the Collegium said, he was “eminently suitable for being appointed as a Judge of the Supreme Court” in terms of “his judicial performance, administrative acumen, integrity and merit.”
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 Campus Law Centre of Delhi University 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 17 October 2011 and was transferred to the Manipur High Court after the creation of the latter in 2013. He was again transferred to the Gauhati High Court on October 11, 2018. He was appointed as the Chief Justice of the High Court for Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh in February 2023.
“Being conversant with the work of Justice Mahadevan on the judicial side and as a senior Judge 4 of the High Court, the Collegium is of the view that he is eminently suitable for appointment as a Judge of the Supreme Court,” the resolution stated.
Having completed LL.B. from Madras Law College, he got enrolled as an advocate in 1989 and practised on the civil, criminal and writ sides with specialisation in indirect taxes, customs and Central Excise matters for 25 years. He was appointed as a judge of the Madras High Court in 2013.
