New Delhi/Leh, August 20, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
The Union Cabinet on Thursday approved the establishment of a bench of the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh in the Union Territory of Ladakh, Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced.
Shah said the decision, taken under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, would improve access to justice for people living in remote and far-flung parts of Ladakh by reducing the time and distance involved in accessing legal services.
“The Union Cabinet, under the leadership of the PM Shri @narendramodi Ji, has decided to set up a bench of the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir in Ladakh,” Shah said in a post on X.
He added that the government was “fully committed to the all-round development of Ladakh and to ensuring constitutional safeguards”.
The new bench is proposed to come up in Leh, the capital of Ladakh. At present, the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh functions through its benches in Jammu and Srinagar. Cases concerning the Ladakh region are currently heard at either of these benches.
With the new arrangement, cases pertaining to Ladakh will be heard at the proposed Leh bench, making judicial services more accessible to residents of the Union Territory.
The High Court was known as the Jammu and Kashmir High Court when Jammu and Kashmir, including the Ladakh region, was a single state. Following the abrogation of Article 370 and the bifurcation of the erstwhile state into the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, it was renamed the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
The court will retain its existing name after the Cabinet decision, while its judicial presence will expand to three locations — Jammu, Srinagar and Leh.
The move is aimed at addressing the challenges faced by residents of Ladakh due to the region’s remote and geographically difficult terrain and improving their access to the judicial system.
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