NEW DELHI: In a significant step aimed at improving access to justice in Ladakh, President Droupadi Murmu has promulgated a regulation allowing a bench of the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh to hold sittings in Ladakh.
The Union Territory of Ladakh (Sitting of Bench of the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh in Ladakh) Regulation, 2026 was promulgated on August 27 under Article 240 of the Constitution, read with Section 58(2) of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019.
The regulation provides the statutory framework for a bench of the common High Court to sit in Ladakh, bringing judicial proceedings closer to litigants in the Union Territory.
Under the new framework, Judges and Division Courts of the High Court may sit at a place in Ladakh designated by the Chief Justice, subject to the approval of the Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh. The move is expected to ease the difficulties faced by litigants who currently have to travel outside the Union Territory for proceedings before the High Court.
The regulation, however, does not alter the existing principal seat of the High Court. It also gives the Chief Justice the authority to direct that any case, or category of cases, arising in Ladakh be heard instead at Srinagar or Jammu.
The constitutional route used for the move is significant. Article 240 empowers the President to make regulations for the peace, progress and good government of specified Union Territories. In the case of Ladakh, this power operates in conjunction with the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019.
Legal experts have also noted that an Article 240 regulation differs from a presidential ordinance issued under Article 123. Unlike an ordinance, the exercise of power under Article 240 is not dependent on Parliament being in recess. Consequently, there is no requirement for Parliament to be prorogued before such a regulation is promulgated.
The regulation will not take effect immediately. It will come into force on a date to be notified by the Administrator of Ladakh in the Official Gazette.
The move marks a significant institutional step towards making the High Court more accessible to people across the Union Territory.