Draft:Sanjay Dhar

Sanjay Dhar obtained a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Kashmir^[3]. He enrolled as an advocate in 1990 and subsequently practiced at the Delhi High Court^[4]. In 1997, he joined the judicial service as a Munsiff^[5]. Over the following decades, he held various judicial and administrative postings within the lower courts of Jammu and Kashmir^[6]. Immediately prior to his elevation as a High Court judge in April 2020, he served as the Registrar General of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court^[7][8]

Justice Dhar was appointed as a judge of the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh through a notification issued by the Government of India on 3 April 2020. He took oath of office on 7 April 2020.^[9]

During his tenure at the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, Justice Sanjay Dhar has authored rulings involving media ethics, service law, and civil procedure:

• Media defamation and journalists: Justice Dhar quashed a defamation complaint against journalists Arnab Goswami and Aditya Raj Kaul, ruling that a journalist cannot be prosecuted for defamation solely for reporting on a subject in the public interest based on official sources.^[10]
• Defamation via "terrorist" allegations: He ruled that labelling an individual as a "terrorist associate" or "overground worker" in a newspaper report is per se defamatory. The court held that such allegations damage a person's reputation and cannot be published without credible, supporting evidence.^[11]
• Service law in private institutions: Justice Dhar ruled that the selection and service conditions of employees in private, unaided schools are fundamentally contractual. Consequently, disputes regarding these conditions are generally not enforceable through writ jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution of India.^[12]
• Domestic Violence Act proceedings: In a ruling regarding the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005, he observed that proceedings under the Act are primarily civil in nature. The court held that if a respondent fails to appear after being summoned, a magistrate should ordinarily proceed ex parte rather than immediately issuing arrest warrants.^[13]
• Military service and civil appointments: In a case involving an Indian Air Force (IAF) airman who qualified for the Jammu and Kashmir Administrative Service (JKAS) despite lacking formal prior permission, Justice Dhar ruled that the airman could be discharged to pursue his civil career. The court granted equitable relief and directed the candidate to pay a ₹3 lakh penalty to the IAF for the technical breach of service rules.^[14]
• Protection of sports personalities: Justice Dhar quashed a corruption FIR filed against Bilquis Mir, India's first female Olympic jury member for water sports. The court ruled that the investigation was a "witch-hunt" and criticized the investigating agencies for harassing a sporting figure without sufficient cause.^[15]

• List of sitting judges of the high courts of India
• High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh