Manipur: Justice M Sundar takes oath as Chief Justice of High Court
Justice M. Sundar was sworn in as the 10th Chief Justice of the Manipur High Court on September 15, 2025. The oath was administered by Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla at Raj Bhavan in Imphal. He succeeds Chief Justice Kempaiah Somashekar, who demitted office on September 13, 2025. Justice Sundar was elevated from being a judge of the Madras High Court, following a recommendation by the Supreme Court Collegium. As he begins his tenure, the Manipur High Court has over 3,335 pending cases.
- Case backlog: The article states that over 3,335 cases are pending. That’s a heavy load. Clearing backlogs, preventing new ones, and ensuring that urgent matters (like injunctions, bail, constitutional rights) are heard without delay will be a key performance metric for Justice Sundar.
- Access to justice: Manipur is a state with many remote areas, linguistic and ethnic diversity, history of conflict. Ensuring that litigants from far-flung districts, tribal/hill areas, people with limited resources, and marginalized communities can access court services (both physical and via technology) will be part of the Chief Justice’s expectations.
- Maintaining judicial independence & integrity: Particularly in states like Manipur where politics, ethnicity, security concerns can intersect heavily with law, the Chief Justice’s capacity to preserve impartiality, enforce procedural fairness, and resist undue external pressures matters a lot.
- Court administration & modernization: This includes judicial infrastructure (courtrooms, staff, case management systems, e-filing & digital interfaces), reducing delays, improving registry work, and sometimes facilitating alternate dispute resolution mechanisms.
FAQs
Q1: Who preceded Justice M. Sundar as Chief Justice of the Manipur High Court?
A: Chief Justice Kempaiah Somashekar preceded him. He demitted office on September 13, 2025.
Q2: How many pending cases does the Manipur High Court have now?
A: As per reports at the time of Justice Sundar’s oath, over 3,335 cases were pending in the Manipur High Court
Q3: Where did Justice Sundar serve before being appointed Chief Justice of Manipur?
A: He was a judge of the Madras High Court before being elevated. He was made a permanent judge in October 2016.
Q4: What is the process by which a High Court Chief Justice is appointed in India?
A: Generally, such an appointment requires a recommendation by the Supreme Court Collegium, followed by appointment by the President of India. In this case, the Collegium recommended his elevation, and then the President appointed him.
Q5: What are some challenges Justice Sundar is likely to face during his tenure?
A: Challenges include clearing case backlogs, improving access to justice for remote and marginalized groups, dealing with security or conflict-sensitive cases, ensuring administrative and registry reforms, managing resources and ensuring independence in high-stakes matters.
