In a historic milestone for the Indian judiciary, Chief Justice of the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh Pushpendra Singh Bhati and Justice Sanjay Parihar on Wednesday presided over the first regular division bench at Leh.
The newly established Ladakh Bench of the high court, located at a breath-taking height of over 11,500 feet above sea level, began regular hearing of the cases from Wednesday, an official said. After the conclusion of the hearing of five listed Division Bench matters, Justice Parihar dealt with as many as 60 matters listed before the single bench, the official said. Justice Parihar said the identification of the 65 cases that were listed for Wednesday reflects the initial effort to organise and facilitate the hearing of matters concerning litigants from Ladakh.
He said the day began with the hearing by the division bench in which the chief justice heard the matters through virtual mode while Justice Sanjay Parihar was present physically at the Ladakh Bench. He said the Wednesday’s proceedings made use of technology to facilitate a sort of hybrid hearing with the chief justice hearing through virtual mode and Justice Parihar doing physical hearing.
Earlier, litigants from Leh, Kargil and other far-flung areas of Ladakh had to travel to Srinagar or Jammu for proceedings before the high court.
