NEW DELHI: Manipur got its first representation in Supreme Court on Thursday as CJI D Y Chandrachud administered the oath of office to 61-year-old Justice Nongmeikapam Kotiswar Singh as a judge of the apex court.
In Courtroom No. 1, packed with lawyers and relatives of the newly-appointed judges, the CJI also administered oath to Justice R Mahadevan of Madras high court as an SC judge.With the elevation of the two judges, SC has now reached its full sanctioned strength of 33 judges, including the CJI.
Justice Singh has immaculately followed in the footsteps of his father N Ibotombi Singh, the first advocate general of Manipur who was also a judge in Gauhati HC that then served as the principal bench for all northeastern states.
Justice Singh too became advocate general of Manipur in Nov 2007 and remained so till Oct 2011, when he was appointed a judge of Gauhati HC. He was appointed chief justice of J&K and Ladakh HC in Feb 2023.
Justice Singh will probably be the first judge in the Supreme Court’s history to have been hospitalised with a gunshot injury suffered in 2010 as advocate general from the accidental firing of a gun by a minister in the Congress govt led by O Ibobi Singh. The accident happened when Singh was travelling in a car with the minister. Coincidentally, ‘Nongmei’ in Manipuri means ‘gun’.
In Courtroom No. 1, packed with lawyers and relatives of the newly-appointed judges, the CJI also administered oath to Justice R Mahadevan of Madras high court as an SC judge.With the elevation of the two judges, SC has now reached its full sanctioned strength of 33 judges, including the CJI.
Justice Singh has immaculately followed in the footsteps of his father N Ibotombi Singh, the first advocate general of Manipur who was also a judge in Gauhati HC that then served as the principal bench for all northeastern states.
Justice Singh too became advocate general of Manipur in Nov 2007 and remained so till Oct 2011, when he was appointed a judge of Gauhati HC. He was appointed chief justice of J&K and Ladakh HC in Feb 2023.
Justice Singh will probably be the first judge in the Supreme Court’s history to have been hospitalised with a gunshot injury suffered in 2010 as advocate general from the accidental firing of a gun by a minister in the Congress govt led by O Ibobi Singh. The accident happened when Singh was travelling in a car with the minister. Coincidentally, ‘Nongmei’ in Manipuri means ‘gun’.