Justice MB Snehalatha was sworn in as an additional judge of the Kerala High Court on Thursday.Chief Justice A J Desai administered her the oath of office.Advocate General K Gopalakrishna Kurup and the Kerala High Court Advocate's Association President Yeshwanth Shenoy spoke at the swearing-in ceremony, welcoming the new Judge.The Central government notified the appointment of Justice Snehalatha through a notification dated April 19, 2024.The Supreme Court collegium had recommended her elevation on October 10, 2023. However, Justice Snehalatha's name was cleared for appointment only on April 19 this year, almost 6 months later.She was part of a group of five judicial officers who were recommended by the Supreme Court in its October 2023 resolution.Born on May 31, 1964 in Ernakulam's Vypin, Justice Snehalatha completed her schooling from Santa Cruz Higher Secondary School. After graduating from St. Theresa's College, she completed her LLB from Government Law College, Ernakulam and later procured a post-graduate degree in law from the Mahatma Gandhi University.She enrolled as an advocate in 1987 and started practicing as a junior associate under Advocate KK Vishwanathan, practicing in both civil and criminal matters.In April 1995, she cleared the Kerala Judicial Service Examination and commenced her Judicial career as a Munsiff Magistrate at Mananthavady.She later worked as an Additional Munsiff at Palakkad and Kozhikode, as Munsiff at Kodungallur and North Paravoor, as Principal Munsiff at Palakkad and as Judicial First Class Magistrate at North Paravur and Kunnamkulam.In February, 2010 she was promoted and posted as a Sub-Judge at Perambavoor and Chief Judicial Magistrate at Thiruvananthapuram.She was then promoted as a District Judge on March 12, 2014, and presided over Motor Accident Claims Tribunal at Attingal. She also served as Additional District and Sessions judge and presiding officer of the additional tribunal for the Motor Accident Claims at Thiruvananthapuram and Palakkad.At the time of elevation to the Kerala High Court, she had been serving as the Principal District and Sessions Judge, Kollam.Currently, the number of judges at the Kerala High Court is 42 judges, as against its sanctioned strength of 47.With Justice MB Snehalatha's appointment the total number of women judges in the High Court has risen to 5.
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