The Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court on Tuesday designated 25 lawyers including four women as Senior Advocates.

This is the first such exercise after a gap of 5 years. The last time the Court conferred senior gown was in December 2020.

The lawyers designated are:

- Surrinder Singh;

- Shabir Ahmad Naik;

- Tahir Majid Shamsi;

- Syed Manzoor Ahmad;

- Mushtaq Ahmad Chashoo;

- Aseem Kumar Sawhney;

- Deepika Mahajan;

- Ravinder Sharma;

- Rakesh Kumar Chargotra;

- Masooda Jan;

- Amit Gupta;

- Tasaduq Hussain Khawaja;

- Chander Sheikher Gupta;

- Vishal Sharma;

- Nirmal Kishore Kotwal;

- Rameshwar Prasad Sharma;

- Ajay Sharma;

- Shah Mohd;

- Sakal Bhushan;

- Rajnish Raina;

- Shabeena Nazir;

- Rohit Kohli;

- Raman Sharma;

- Anupam Raina;

- Shivani Jalali Pandita.

According to a press release issued by the Court, there were 45 applicants for the gown.

In assessing the suitability of candidates for designation, their professional standing and seniority at the Bar were examined, taking into account age, length of practice, quality of advocacy, merit, integrity and reputation within the legal fraternity. Due importance was also given to inclusiveness in the selection process.

After deliberations and considerations, the full court of the High Court unanimously decided to designate 25 of the 45 applicants.