Madras High Court Chief Justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari on Monday administered oath of office to Justices Nidumolu Mala and S. Sounthar, who had been elevated from the Bar as additional judges of the court for a period of two years. With this, the working strength of the High Court increases to 61 as against the sanctioned strength of 75 judges.
Though the Supreme Court had recently recommended the names of six advocates from the Bar for being elevated as judges of the High Court, the Centre notified the names of only two of them. Following the notification issued by the Union Ministry of Law and Justice, Governor R.N. Ravi authorised the Chief Justice to administer the oath.
Advocate General R. Shunmugasundaram welcomed the two judges and said the number of women judges in the Madras High Court increases to 13 with the appointment of Justice Mala and that it accounts for 21% of its judges being women. No other High Court in the country had reached two-digit figures when it came to women judges, he said.
Introducing the new judges to the gathering, he said Justice Mala was born on April 24, 1967 and got enrolled as a lawyer in August 1989 after obtaining her degree from the Madras Law College. During her stint as a lawyer, she was attached to the office of K.S. Ahamed, former Government Pleader and Public Prosecutor of Puducherry.
As a first generation lawyer, she began her practice on the civil side and held positions like Government Advocate and Additional Government Pleader of Puducherry. In June 2020, she got appointed as Government Pleader (additional charge) for Puducherry and held the position till her elevation, after three decades of standing in the Bar.
Justice Sounthar was born on July 19, 1971 in Mayiladuthurai and did his schooling in the hometown, where his father was a very famous lawyer. After completing law in Chennai, he got enrolled with the Bar Council in October 1993 and completed his Masters in Law, with specialisation in the law of contracts, the A-G said.
While commencing practice, he joined the chambers of A.S. Venkatachalamoorthy, who later became the Chief Justice of Chhattisgarh High Court. He had an extensive practice on the civil and writ side and handled a considerable number of labour and service cases. He also served as a lecturer in Dr. Ambedkar Government Law College for 20 years.
Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry Chariman P.S. Amalraj and the office-bearers of various Bar associations in the High Court also welcomed the two judges.
