JAMMU: President of India, Pranab Mukherjee on Friday appointed Justice (Retd.) Bansi Lal Bhat of J&K State High Court as Judicial Member of Armed Forces Tribunal.
The tenure of appointment of Justice Bhat as Judicial Member of Armed Forces Tribunal will be for a period of four years from date of assumption of charge or till he attains the age of 65 years.
Justice Bhat was born in remote village Arihal in Pulwama district. After passing his matriculation from Government High School, Hawal, he graduated from Amar Singh College, Srinagar and obtained his Law Degree from University of Kashmir.
He was enrolled as pleader with Bar Association, Srinagar on 15th January, 1975. He practiced in Civil, Criminal and Revenue Courts until selection in KCS Judicial. He joined as Munsiff on 17th November, 1982 and was promoted as Sub Judge on 29th June, 1989. Later, he served as CJM, Jammu till his induction in Higher Judicial Service in August 1999.
He also served as Principal District and Sessions Judge in both capital cities of Jammu and Srinagar besides at Poonch, Reasi and Kathua. He also served as Presiding Officer of Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal, Jammu, besides serving for two tenures as Special Judge Anti Corruption Jammu and was appointed as Special Judge of the newly created Anti Corruption Court for trial of CBI cases on 18th August, 2011 where he served till his elevation.
He contributed to development of law by delivering many landmark judgments and settled thousands of disputes as Presiding Officer of the Permanent Lok Adalat. He regularly contributed to State Judicial Academy newsletter and raised standard of legal education by delivering lectures in State Judicial Academy and Faculty of Law, University of Jammu.
He was appointed as Additional Judge of J&K State High Court on 8th March, 2013 and appointed as permanent Judge of the State High Court on 26th September, 2014. During his tenure, he delivered so many reportable judgments.