Sindhu Sharma to become first woman judge of Jammu and Kashmir High Court

Jammu & Kashmir High Court | jkhighcourt.nic.in

Sharma, who enrolled with the Bar in 1996, has practiced in the district courts and the state high court. 

New Delhi: For the first time, the Jammu and Kashmir High Court will get a woman judge, as the Centre Friday announced the appointment of advocate Sindhu Sharma to the post.

The government notified the appointments of two judges — Sharma and judicial officer Rashid Ali Dar — to the high court.

Sharma enrolled with the Bar in 1996, after obtaining her LL.B. from Panjab University, Chandigarh. She has practiced in the district courts and the Jammu and Kashmir High Court.

In 2014, she became the Assistant Solicitor General of India — the first woman to do so from the J&K High Court. The appointment was for three years.

ThePrint first reported that the Centre was planning to issue warrants of appointments for advocate Sharma and Dar. The government had to decide on four names for appointment to the high court — three lawyers and one judicial officer.

The government returned the names of advocates Wasim Sadiq Nargal and Nazir Ahmed Beig, while Sharma and Dar were going to make it, sources had told ThePrint.

The four were part of a list of five names that the state high court collegium had recommended for elevation on 24 August 2017. But the Supreme Court collegium, on 6 April this year, had deferred the proposal to elevate one of the candidates — Showkat Ahmad Makroo.