President of India has signed the warrants of appointment of Punjab and Haryana high court acting chief justice Mahesh Mittal Kumar as chief justice of Jammu and Kashmir high court. He is likely to be administered oath of office next week.
Justice Kumar had been functioning as the acting chief justice of the Punjab and Haryana high court since April 23 when the then chief justice Ranjan Gogoi got elevated as the Supreme Court judge.
After his transfer as chief justice of the Jammu and Kashmir high court, justice Jasbir Singh, next in the seniority list of the high court judges, would take charge as acting chief justice till orders for the appointment of chief justice are cleared.
Known for his clean image and fearless judgments of far-reaching consequences, justice Kumar was elevated as the high court judge on July 2, 2001.
Born on January 5, 1953, justice Kumar after completing L.LB in 1977 got enrolled with the Bar Council of Punjab and Haryana. He pusued LLM from the University of Birmingham (United Kingdom) in 1982.
He has also authored a book titled 'Control of Exclusion Clauses in England and India' in 1985. Justice Kumar also worked as part-time lecturer at the faculty of law in Panjab University, Chandigarh from 1984 to 1990.
{{/usCountry}}He has also authored a book titled 'Control of Exclusion Clauses in England and India' in 1985. Justice Kumar also worked as part-time lecturer at the faculty of law in Panjab University, Chandigarh from 1984 to 1990.
{{/usCountry}}Justice Kumar was elected as the vice-president of Punjab and Haryana Bar Association, Chandigarh, in 1991-92 and also worked as an additional advocate general of Punjab from October 1995 to December 1996.
He is president of International Law Association Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh chapter and also president of Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh chapter of Indian Law Institute.