Who is Justice A Muhamed Mustaque, the new Chief Justice of Sikkim HC?
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New Delhi/Gangtok, Jan 4 (NationPress) Justice A. Muhamed Mustaque was officially sworn in on Sunday as the Chief Justice of the Sikkim High Court. The oath of office was administered by Governor Om Prakash Mathur during a ceremony at Lok Bhawan in Gangtok, which was attended by judges of the High Court and several dignitaries.
On January 3, the Indian government approved the appointment of Justice Mustaque as the Chief Justice of the Sikkim High Court, following a recommendation from the Supreme Court Collegium led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant.
“Exercising the authority bestowed by clause (1) of Article 217 of the Constitution of India, the President has appointed Shri Justice Muhamed Mustaque Ayumantakath, currently a Judge at the Kerala High Court, as Chief Justice of the Sikkim High Court effective from the date he takes charge,” read a notification from the Union Ministry of Law and Justice.
Born on June 1, 1967, Justice Mustaque hails from Thana in the Kannur district of Kerala. He earned his law degree from V.B. College of Law in Udupi and later pursued an LL.M. in Labour Law from M.G. University. He was enrolled as an advocate on October 1, 1989, and practiced for seven years across various courts and statutory authorities in Kannur.
Throughout his legal career, he worked as a litigation lawyer and arbitrator, and also took on the role of mediator at the Kerala Mediation Centre. His areas of expertise encompass civil, commercial, constitutional, administrative, service, and criminal law, along with telecommunications, intellectual property, and information technology law.
Justice Mustaque has also contributed to legal education as a faculty member for mediation training with the Indian Institute of Arbitration and Mediation (IIAM) and served as a panel arbitrator with ICADR and IIAM.
He was sworn in as an Additional Judge of the Kerala High Court on January 23, 2014, and became a Permanent Judge on March 10, 2016. He also held the position of Acting Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court from July 5 to September 21, 2024.