Justice MB Snehalatha sworn in as Additional Judge of the Kerala High Court

Justice MB Snehalatha was today sworn in as an Additional Judge of the Kerala High Court.

The oath of office was administered by Chief Justice AJ Desai. Speakers on the occasion included AG Gopalakrishna Kurup and KHCAA President.

The Central government has notified the appointment of Justice Snehalatha through a notification dated April 19, 2024.

The Supreme Court collegium had recommended her appointment on October 10, 2023. However, Justice Snehalatha’s name was approved for appointment only on April 19 this year, almost six months later.

She was part of a group of five judicial officers recommended by the Supreme Court in its October 2023 resolution.

Born on May 31, 1964 in Ernakulam’s Vypin, Justice Snehalatha completed her education from Santa Cruz Higher Secondary School. After graduating from St. Theresa’s College, she completed her LLB from Government Law College, Ernakulam and later obtained a postgraduate degree in law from Mahatma Gandhi University.

She enrolled as an advocate in 1987 and started as a junior associate under advocate KK Vishwanathan.

In April 1995, she passed the Kerala Judicial Service Examination and started her judicial career as a Munsiff Magistrate in Mananthavady.

Later, she worked as 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 Sub-Judge at Perambavoor and Chief Judge at Thiruvananthapuram.

She was subsequently promoted to District Judge on 12 March 2014 and chaired the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal in Attingal. She also served as Additional District and Sessions Judge and Presiding Officer of the Additional Tribunal for Motor Accident Claims in Thiruvananthapuram and Palakkad.

At the time of her appointment to the Kerala High Court, she was the Chief District and Sessions Judge, Kollam.

Currently, the number of judges in the Kerala High Court is 42 judges while under sanctions it is 47.

With the appointment of Justice MB Snehalatha, the total number of women judges in the Supreme Court has increased to five.