Justice Kotiswar Singh becomes Manipur's first Supreme Court judge

New Delhi: The Centre on Tuesday notified the appointments of Jammu & Kashmir High Court Chief Justice N Kotiswar Singh and Madras HC Acting Chief Justice R Mahadevan as Supreme Court Judges.

Last week, the Supreme Court collegium headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud had recommended the elevation of the duo to the top court. Justice Singh has become the first SC judge from Manipur. He was appointed as Chief Justice of Jammu and Kashmir HC in February last year.

With these two appointments, the top court will function at its full strength of 34 judges.


"His appointment as a judge of the SC will provide representation to the Northeast, and in particular he will be the first judge from Manipur to be appointed as a judge of the SC," the Collegium had said last week in its resolution about Justice Singh.

The resolution added that Justice Singh has an impeccable record, both in judicial capacity and in terms of the work which has been rendered by him on the administrative side, as the Chief Justice of the High Court for J&K and Ladakh.

Born in Imphal, Justice Singh briefly practiced before the SC before shifting to the Gauhati HC. In 2011, he was sworn in as an Additional Judge of the Gauhati HC and in 2012, he was made a permanent judge.

He was appointed a Judge of the Manipur HC Court upon its creation in 2013. He was later transferred to the Gauhati HC in 2018 before being elevated as the Chief Justice of the J&K and Ladakh High Court.