Justice Gita Mittal
(Retd.) Chief Justice, High Court of Jammu & Kashmir
Former Acting Chief Justice, High Court of Delhi
Justice Gita Mittal (Retd.) is a former Chief Justice, High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and the former Acting Chief Justice, High Court of Delhi, India. Between 1981-2004, she had an extensive law practice in all jurisdictions in Delhi. She was appointed a judge of the High Court of Delhi on 16th July 2004.
She is the Chairperson of the Broadcasting Contents Complaints Council (BCCC), the Vulnerable Witness Committee and the Chairperson of the Committee looking into the Manipur violence issue - both constituted by the Supreme Court of India.
She is the Council Member, Mumbai Centre for International Arbitration (MCIA) and has actively been involved in promoting mediation in India. She is on the governing and advisory bodies of leading educational institutes such as of the Law Centre of the Cornell University, Law Centre of the Manav Rachna International University, and other national sports bodies. She was also the former Chancellor of the National Law University, Delhi. She also acted as the Special Commissioner – Independent Special Commission, SOS Children Village.
In her judicial career, she has made path breaking judicial pronouncements whichhave led to legislations and important judicial reform. She has spearheaded various judicial and administrative interventions like setting up international arbitration and mediation centres, hosting training programmes across socio-legal topics for various stakeholders and community development projects for members of marginalized communities including a special programme called ‘Insaaf ki Dastak’to improve access to justice in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh; ‘Mein Honhaar Hun’ etc.
She has crafted the Vulnerable Witness Deposition Courtroom project which completely prevents an interface between avulnerable witness (especially victims of sexual violence) and the offender. She is regularly invited across the globe to speak on topics such as protection of human rights, environment, disability, gender justice, mediation amongst others. As a result of her illustrious career and significant contribution in her field, Justice Mittal has received numerous awards such as the Nari Shakti Puruskar by the President of India (the highest civilian honour for women in India); the Arline Pacht Global Vision Award by IAWJ; Justice P.N. Bhagwati Award; Sri Ram Panchu National Impact Award in Mediation Social Awareness 2023; BIMS Mediation Award for the year 2021 by Bangladesh International Mediation Society; V-WA 50 Lifetime Achievement Award, 2021; Distinguished Alumna Award in 2008 by the Vice-President of India and many more.