Justice A Muhamed Mustaque sworn in as Chief Justice of Sikkim HC
New Delhi/Gangtok: Justice A. Muhamed Mustaque was sworn in on Sunday as the Chief Justice of the Sikkim High Court. Governor Om Prakash Mathur administered the oath of office to Justice Mustaque at a ceremony held at Lok Bhawan in Gangtok, attended by the High Court judges and other dignitaries.
On January 3, the Centre had cleared the appointment of Justice Mustaque as the Chief Justice of the Sikkim High Court, following the recommendation of the Supreme Court Collegium headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant.
“In exercise of the power conferred by clause (1) of Article 217 of the Constitution of India, the President is pleased to appoint Shri Justice Muhamed Mustaque Ayumantakath, Judge, Kerala High Court, to be Chief Justice of the Sikkim High Court with effect from the date he assumes charge of his office,” said a notification issued by the Union Ministry of Law and Justice.
Born on June 1, 1967, Justice Mustaque is a native of Thana in Kannur district of Kerala. He obtained his law degree from V.B. College of Law, Udupi, and later completed his LL.M. in Labour Law from M.G. University. He enrolled as an advocate on October 1, 1989, and practised for seven years before various courts and statutory authorities in Kannur.
During his career at the Bar, he practised as a litigation lawyer and arbitrator and also served as a mediator at the Kerala Mediation Centre. His areas of practice included civil, commercial, constitutional, administrative, service and criminal law, besides telecommunication, intellectual property and information technology laws.
He also served as a faculty member for mediation training with the Indian Institute of Arbitration and Mediation (IIAM) and was a panel arbitrator with ICADR and IIAM.
Justice Muhamed Mustaque was sworn in as an Additional Judge of the Kerala High Court on January 23, 2014, and was appointed as a Permanent Judge with effect from March 10, 2016. He has also served as the Acting Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court from July 5 to September 21, 2024.