The oath of office was administered to Dr. Justice Bhati by Vinai Kumar Saxena, Lieutenant Governor of UT of Ladakh with additional charge of UT of Jammu & Kashmir.
The proceedings were conducted by Shashanka Ala, Secretary to Lieutenant Governor, UT of Ladakh, while the Warrant of Appointment of the Chief Justice was read out by M. K. Sharma, Registrar General, High Court of J&K and Ladakh. Saxena is currently holding additional charge as LG of Jammu and Kashmir as incumbent Manoj Sinha is on leave.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, judges of high court and subordinate courts were present at the oath taking ceremony.
The Centre notified the appointment of Justice Bhati as chief justice of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court on September 5.
Justice Bhati took over from Justice Sanjeev Kumar, who was officiating as the acting chief justice.
The Supreme Court collegium had recommended Justice Bhati as the chief justice. He was earlier serving as a judge of the Rajasthan High Court.
Justice Bhati holds B.A., LL.B. and LL.M. in Mercantile Law besides a Ph.D. He served as Visiting Faculty at the Faculty of Law, Jai Narain Vyas University, Jodhpur, for 19 years from 1997 to 2016 and as Visiting Faculty at National Law University, Jodhpur, for one year. He is also a Member of the Executive Committee of the Rajasthan Chapter of the Indian Law Institute.
A large number of sitting and former Chief Justices and Judges from several High Courts across the country, particularly from Rajasthan besides the High Courts of Delhi, Punjab, Haryana and Allahabad, attended the event. The presence of Dr. Justice Nupur Bhati, Judge of the Rajasthan High Court and spouse of the Chief Justice, his parents, close relatives and other family members added special significance to the occasion.
Officials said that among other dignitaries present were the Chief Secretary, J&K; Director General of Police of J&K; Commissioners/Secretaries to Government of UT of Jammu & Kashmir and UT of Ladakh, Vice-Chancellors of Universities; Members of the Central Administrative Tribunal besides Executive Members of the Kashmir Advocates’ Association and the J&K High Court Bar Association, Jammu; Law Officers of the High Court of J&K and Ladakh; Judicial Officers and officers of the High Court Registry.
A sizeable representation of senior Advocates, Government Advocates and other members of the Bar from Rajasthan besides staff members and other distinguished guests, also attended the event, they said.
The Ministry of Law and Justice, Government of India, issued the notification regarding the appointment of Dr. Justice Pushpendra Singh Bhati as Chief Justice of the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh on September 5, 2026.
Born on September 21, 1970, Dr. Justice Bhati enrolled as an Advocate in 1992 and practised primarily before the Rajasthan High Court at Jodhpur, acquiring extensive experience in diverse areas of law. These included constitutional and writ jurisdiction, service matters, public interest litigation, election, revenue, mining, education, Panchayati Raj, family and criminal law.
