Article 214 of the Constitution of India provides that there shall be a High Court for each State. The High Court of Jammu and Kashmir was established on the basis of the Jammu and Kashmir Government order Number 1 issued on the 26th March 1928.
Part IV of the Jammu and Kashmir Constitution Act, 1939 dealt with the judiciary in the State. The High Court was established under clause (a) of section 48 of the said Act in 1928, continued to be the High Court for the State.
Sub-section (1) of section 93 of the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir, 1956, declared that there shall be a High Court for the State of Jammu and Kashmir and that the High Court exercising jurisdiction in relation to the State immediately before the commencement of the Constitution shall be the High Court for the State.
The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 (34 of 2019) was enacted to provide for the reorganisation of the existing State of Jammu and Kashmir into the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and the Union Territory of Ladakh
Clause (a) of sub-section (1) of section 75 of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 (34 of 2019) declared that the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir shall be the Common High Court for the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and Union Territory of Ladakh
The present nomenclature is found to be rather long-winding and cumbersome, the said nomenclature may be substituted as High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, which besides being convenient would also be in consonance with the name pattern followed in other common High Courts, namely, Punjab and Haryana High Court, which has jurisdiction over the States of Punjab and Haryana and the Union Territory of Chandigarh
The considered views on the aforementioned proposal were sought from the Lieutenant Governor of Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, the Lieutenant Governor of Union Territory of Ladakh and the Chief Justice of the Common High Court for the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and Union Territory of Ladakh.
The Lieutenant Governor of Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir vide letter dated the 27th October 2020 and the Lieutenant Governor of Union Territory of Ladakh vide letter dated the 20th October 2020 have conveyed their agreement to the proposed change in the name of the High Court.
The then Chief Justice of the common High Court for the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and Union Territory of Ladakh vide letter dated the 21st November 2020 has also conveyed her no objection to the proposed name.
In the exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 103 of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, (34 of 2019), the President of India, hereby make the following Order, namely: -
1. Short title and commencement.-(1) This Order may be called the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Removal of Difficulties) Order, 2021 (of 2021).
2. It shall come into force on the date of its publication in the Official Gazette. In section 75, in sub-section (1), in clause (a) for the words "Common High Court for the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and Union Territory of Ladakh" the words "High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh" shall be substituted.
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