Srinagar- The Union Ministry of Law and Justice on Monday notified the appointment of Justice Sanjeev Kumar as the Acting Chief Justice of the High Court of J&K and Ladakh.
According to a notification issued by the Department of Justice under Article 223 of the Constitution of India, the President appointed Justice Sanjeev Kumar to perform the duties of the office of the Chief Justice consequent upon the appointment of Chief Justice Arun Palli as a Judge of the Supreme Court.
Born on April 8, 1966, in village Prehta Nagrota of Basohli Tehsil in Kathua, Justice Kumar received his early education at the local Government Middle School and later completed his matriculation from Government Higher Secondary School, Basohli. He secured the 10th position in the Jammu and Kashmir State Board of School Education matriculation examination in 1981.
He graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from Government Degree College, Kathua, in 1985 and completed his LL.B. degree from the University of Jammu in 1988, both in first division. He was enrolled as an Advocate with the Jammu and Kashmir Bar Council in February 1989.
Justice Kumar served as Government Advocate for the Srinagar wing of the High Court during 1992-93 and again during 1994-95. He was subsequently appointed Government Advocate for the Jammu wing in 1995 and continued in that role until 1998. During his legal practice, he represented several government departments and public sector undertakings and served on the panel of the Advocate General. He also acted as standing counsel for the Jammu and Kashmir Services Selection Board for nearly six years between 2006 and 2012.
Justice Kumar had more than 200 reported judgments to his credit as an advocate and appeared in several high-profile matters, including the Toshakhana case, the Assembly dissolution matter, and reservation in promotion cases.
He was sworn in as a Permanent Judge of the High Court on June 6, 2017. Earlier, he had also been appointed Acting Chief Justice of the High Court of J&K and Ladakh through a notification dated April 9, 2025.
