Jammu Kashmir HC Designates 25 Senior Advocates After Five-Year Gap

SRINAGAR: The High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh has conferred the designation of Senior Advocate on 25 lawyers, marking the first such exercise since December 2020. The decision was taken in a Full Court meeting held on Tuesday after evaluating 45 applications received in response to notifications issued in May and July this year.

According to the court, the exercise aimed to recognise professional excellence at the Bar while ensuring merit, diversity and representation from different regions and practice areas. The assessment process considered factors such as age, length of practice, quality of advocacy, integrity, reputation, and overall standing in the legal fraternity. Importance was also given to inclusiveness and representation of both High Court and District Court practitioners.

After deliberations, the Full Court unanimously approved the designation of 25 advocates as Senior Advocates under the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh (Designation of Senior Advocates) Rules, 2025. The newly designated Senior Advocates include Surinder 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 Mohammad, Sakal Bhushan, Rajnish Raina, Shabeena Nazir, Rohit Kohli, Raman Sharma, Anupam Raina and Shivani Jalali Pandita.

The designated advocates are required to furnish undertakings in accordance with Rule 5 of the 2025 Rules before formally assuming the role of Senior Advocate.

This round of designations is expected to strengthen the institution of Senior Advocates in the region by formally recognising distinguished members of the Bar after a gap of nearly five years.