Gita Mittal becomes first woman chief justice of J&K HC

President Ram Nath Kovind appointed Justice Gita Mittal as the chief justice of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court on Friday. She is the first woman to hold the position.

Along with the chief justice, one of the two High Court judges is also a woman.

“In exercise of the powers conferred by the section 95 of Jammu and Kashmir, the President is pleased to appoint Kumari Justice Gita Mittal Judge of Delhi High Court, to be the Chief Justice of Jammu and Kashmir High Court with effect from the date she assumes charge of her office,” reads a notification issued by Union Ministry of Law and Justice on Friday.

Earlier, the Supreme Court Collegium had recommended the name of Justice Mittal for the appointment. Born on December 9, 1958, Justice Mittal was the senior-most judge of the Delhi High Court. The office of the Chief Justice for the J&K High Court was lying vacant for the last five months after Justice Badar Durrez Ahmed demitted the office in March this year.

An alumna of Campus Law Centre, Delhi University, Mittal began practicing in 1981. She was appointed as an additional judge of the Delhi High Court on 16 July, 2004, and was confirmed in February 2006.

Since August 2008, Mittal has been a member of the Governing Council of the National Law University, Delhi. She is also a member of the Governing Council of the Indian Law Institute, New Delhi, since 2013 and has been nominated to its Administrative Committee.

Mittal has written extensively on access to justice, protection of human rights, impact of incarceration on women, corporate social responsibility, the death penalty, the impact of religion, culture, tradition on judging, corporate laws, procedure and intellectual property litigation and environmental laws and issues.