New Delhi, Jan 3 (IANS) The Centre on Saturday cleared the appointment of Kerala High Court judge, Justice A. Muhamed Mustaque, as the Chief Justice of the Sikkim High Court.

In a post on social media platform ‘X’, Union Minister of State (I/C) for Law & Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal announced that the President, in exercise of the powers conferred by the Constitution of India and in consultation with the Chief Justice of India (CJI), was pleased to appoint Justice Muhamed Mustaque Ayumantakath, Judge of the Kerala High Court, as the Chief Justice of the Sikkim High Court with effect from the date he assumes charge of his office.

The appointment comes in line with the recommendation of the CJI Surya Kant-led Supreme Court Collegium, which had earlier proposed the elevation of Justice A. Muhamed Mustaque of the Kerala High Court as the Chief Justice of the Sikkim High Court. Born on June 1, 1967, Justice Muhamed 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.

Meanwhile, the Centre on Thursday said that the President, in exercise of powers under Article 222 of the Constitution, has transferred Soumen Sen, Chief Justice of the Meghalaya High Court, to serve as the Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court, following the retirement of the incumbent Chief Justice Nitin Madhukar Jamdar on January 9, 2026.

--IANS

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