SC collegium recommends appointment of Mohammad Yousuf Wani as Additional Judge of High Court of J&K and Ladakh

Srinagar, Mar 12: The Supreme Court Collegium has recommended the name of Mohammad Yousuf Wani, judicial officer, as a Judge of the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh.

On September 21, 2023, the Chief Justice of the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh in consultation with his two senior—most colleagues recommended the appointment of Wani as an Additional Judge of the High Court, reads an official communique by the Apex court.

"In order to ascertain the suitability of the candidate for the elevation to the High Court we have consulted Judges of the Supreme Court who are conversant with the affairs of the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh," the collegium said.

Every material on record has been scrutinized and evaluated while all the observations made by the Department of Justice in the file have been perused  to assess the merit of the candidate for elevation to the High Court, it said.

Mohammad Yousuf Wani joined the judicial service on 9 December 1997 and has served as a judicial officer in various capacities.

Prior to this, he practiced at the Bar for over three years. The inputs placed by the Government in the file indicate that he enjoys a good personal and professional image. Nothing adverse has come to notice with regard to his integrity, the collegium informed.

The Annual Confidential Reports of the officer are consistently of a high order. concurrently given a positive opinion about his suitability for appointment as a Judge of the High Court, it said.

Having regard to the material on record and all relevant factors, the Collegium is of the considered view that Mohammad Yousuf Wani is fit and suitable for being appointed as a Judge of the High Court for Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh, it said.

"While considering the above proposal, we have also taken note of the fact that the above proposal involves non-recommendation of a senior judicial officer. We have also perused a representation made by the said officer requesting for consideration of her name for elevation," it said.

"We have considered the reasons recorded by the Collegium of the High Court for not recommending her name and are in agreement with the High Court Collegium for overlooking her name," it said.

In view of the above, the Collegium resolves to recommend that Mohammad Yousuf Wani, Judicial Officer, be appointed as an Additional Judge of the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh, the collegium concluded.