J&K High Court's Ladakh bench to be inaugurated soon; will hear cases from October 21

In a major development, the Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court's newly constituted Ladakh bench will be inaugurated soon in Leh.

Union government had approved establishment of Ladakh bench for the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh in August this year. Following the decision, the High Court on October 5 selected Leh as the place for holding sittings of the High Court in the Union Territory of Ladakh.

In the latest, the High Court has identified a total of 75 cases for listing before the bench in Leh.

"75 cases pertaining to the Ladakh Division, pending disposal in the Srinagar Wing, have been identified for listing thereof before the newly created Ladakh Bench in connection with its forthcoming inauguration. The dates of hearing of the aforesaid cases have been updated/ preponed to align with the scheduled inaugural hearing of the cases before the Ladakh Bench," the Registrar Judicial said in a notification.

The cases have been listed for hearing on October 21, 22 and 23 – indicating that the inauguration will take place in the next few days.

Before the establishment of the Ladakh bench, the High Court had two benches at Srinagar and Jammu.

Ladakh bench will be part of the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, as it currently serves both Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh.

Ladakh was carved out as a separate Union Territory in 2019 following the reorganisation of the erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir.

The decision to establish a bench in Ladakh is aimed at bringing High Court services closer to litigants in Ladakh, where geographical distances can make access to judicial institutions more difficult.