Srinagar:
Jammu and Kashmir High Court has gotten it’s first ever woman Chief Justice today. Justice Gita Mittal was sworn in today as the Chief Justice of the state by Governor NN Vohra at a ceremony in Raj Bhavan.
After administering the oath, the Governor congratulated Justice Mittal and wished her a highly successful tenure as the Chief Justice of the state high court.
Former Chief Ministers Farooq and Omar Abdullah, Governor’s advisors, serving and former judges, Chief Secretary BVR Subrahmayan, Director General of Police SP Vaid were among those who attended the oath-taking ceremony.
Who is Chief Justice Gita Mittal ?
Born on 9 December 1958, Gita Mittal is an alumni of Campus Law Centre, Delhi University, She began practicing in 1981. She was appointed as an Additional Judge of the Delhi High Court in July, 2004, and was confirmed in February, 2006.
She has written extensively on ‘Access to Justice’; protection of human rights; impact of incarceration on women; corporate social responsibility; death penalty; impact of religion, culture, tradition on judging; corporate laws; procedure and intellectual property litigation and environmental laws and issues.
In 2008, the Lady Shriram College (LSR) for Women in Delhi awarded her the Distinguished Alumna Award. Mittal received the prestigious award from the then Vice President of India Mohammad Hamid Ansari.
Justice Gita Mittal was invited to the Vatican City on an invitation by the Pope Francis to speak at a summit of Judges and Prosecutors on Human Trafficking.
In 2018, President Ram Nath Kovind awarded Justice Gita Mittal with the Nari Shakti Award, India’s highest civilian honour for women. The Nari Shakti award is presented for exemplary service to the cause of upliftment of women.
She is widely known for her Vulnerable Witness Courtroom Project that she designed for the Delhi trial courts initially. Later, Delhi became the first city to have the witness protection set-up. Justice Mittal was the chairperson of the committee who designed to provide protection, privacy, confidentiality and comfort to vulnerable witnesses in an in-camera atmosphere’ in sexual offence cases.
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