The Supreme Court Collegium has recommended the son of the soil, Justice Ali Muhammad Magrey to be the new Chief Justice of the High Court of J&K and Ladakh.
On being appointed by the President of India, Justice Magrey would succeed the incumbent Chief Justice Pankaj Mithal who has been recommended to be transferred to the High Court of Rajasthan by the SC Collegium headed by Chief Justice of India Uday Umesh Lalit.
Justice Magrey would be the 35th Chief Justice of the High Court and the first local to be appointed after 2019.
In his illustrious career, Justice Magrey, who was appointed as a permanent judge of the High Court on 8 March 2013, decided on the merits of about 26,000 issue-based litigations on policy matters of the Centre, J&K government, and those involving huge public exchequer.
Of the nearly 26,000 cases, around 600 have been reported in national and other state law journals.
Born on December 8, 1960, in Wattoo village of Damhal Hanjipora in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district, Justice Magrey received school education in his native village and did his graduation and LLB (Honours) from the University of Kashmir.
He was enrolled as an advocate in the year 1984 and started practicing law in the district courts including revenue courts and tribunals.
Simultaneously Justice Magrey started conducting matters in the High Court and remained standing counsel from 1986 onward for the State Financial Corporation, Jammu and Kashmir Bank, SIDCO, Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, Power Development Department, J&K Service Selection Board, and Jammu and Kashmir Wakf Board.
Justice Magrey was appointed as Additional Advocate General in February 2003 representing the General Administration Department, Health and Medical Education Department, J&K Service Selection Board, J&K Public Service Commission, Estates Department, SKIMS, and Vigilance Department.
He was appointed as Senior Additional Advocate General in September 2009 with an additional charge of the Home Department and appeared and conducted important criminal, Division Bench, and Full Bench matters involving important questions of law on behalf of the State in the High Court as also in numerous appeals in the Supreme Court of India.
Justice Magrey also appeared and conducted important Public Interest Litigations (PILs) and matters on constitution, service, tax, civil, and arbitration.
Justice Magrey appeared in commissions of inquiry also on behalf of the State of J&K before being appointed as Permanent Judge of the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir on March 7, 2013, and took an oath of office the next day.
Established on March 26, 1928, as the High Court of Judicature, Maharaji Hari Singh appointed Lala K Sane as the first Chief Justice of J&K.
Abdul Qayoom appointed as Chief Justice on November 24, 1936. S K Ghose was the Chief Justice of J&K at the time of accession and he continued till March 29, 1948. After the accession of J&K, it was Janki Nath Wazir who took over as Chief Justice of the State on March 30, 1948, till December 2, 1967. He was succeeded by Syed Murtaza Fazal Ali on December 3 of the same year.
Mian Jalaluddin was Chief Justice from February 15, 1978. He was succeeded by Justice Mufti Bahauddin on March 7, 1983. Adarsh Sein Anand was appointed as Chief Justice of J&K on May 11, 1985, and was later appointed as 29th Chief Justice of India. Justice B A Khan, also a son of the soil, was appointed as Chief Justice of J&K on January 25, 2007.
