Justice N. Kotiswar Singh, born in Imphal, Manipur, began his academic journey in his home state before completing his secondary education at the Ramakrishna Mission Vidyapith in Purulia, West Bengal.

He pursued his pre-university course in Science at St. Anthony’s College, Shillong, and graduated with a B.A. (Hons.) in Political Science from Kirori Mal College, University of Delhi in 1983. He went on to earn his LL.B. from the Campus Law Centre, University of Delhi in 1986.

After enrolling as an advocate the same year, he initially practiced at the Supreme Court of India before shifting to the Gauhati High Court—the then common High Court for the northeastern states. He also appeared before the Central Administrative Tribunal in Guwahati and various subordinate courts in Manipur, serving as standing counsel for several government departments and commissions.

In 1992, he attended the prestigious “Commonwealth Young Lawyers’ Course” at the University of London.

Justice Singh was designated as a Senior Advocate by the Gauhati High Court in 2008 and served as Advocate General of Manipur from November 2007 until his elevation to the Bench.

He was appointed as an Additional Judge of the Gauhati High Court on 17 October 2011, and as a Permanent Judge on 7 November 2012. Following the creation of the Manipur High Court, he was appointed its Judge from 23 March 2013. He served as the Acting Chief Justice of the Manipur High Court twice—between July 2017 and May 2018.

Justice Singh has represented the Indian judiciary in multiple international forums. These include the World Congress on Justice for Children (UNESCO, Paris, 2018), a Counter-Terrorism Workshop in the United States (2018), the International Organisation for Judicial Training Conference in Ottawa, Canada (2022), and the South Asia Regional Judicial Dialogue in the Maldives (2022).

Transferred back to the Gauhati High Court in October 2018, he served as the Executive Chairperson of both the Nagaland and Assam State Legal Services Authorities, a Member of the Central Authority of NALSA, and the Governing Body of the National Judicial Academy.

He also performed the duties of the Acting Chief Justice of the Gauhati High Court during multiple tenures and was eventually appointed as the Chief Justice of the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh on 15 February 2023.

On 18 July 2024, Justice N. Kotiswar Singh was elevated to the Supreme Court of India, marking a significant milestone in his decades-long judicial career.