He was Chief Justice of the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh — option 1.

The appointment. Justice N. Kotiswar Singh was elevated to the Supreme Court in July 2024, becoming the first judge from Manipur ever to sit on the Supreme Court of India. He was sworn in along with Justice R. Mahadevan, taking the court to its full sanctioned strength of thirty-four judges.

Why the Gauhati option is the trap. Justice Kotiswar Singh began his judicial career at the Gauhati High Court and belongs to the North-East, so option 4 looks natural. But the question asks which court he was Chief Justice of immediately before elevation, and that was the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court — a common pattern, since judges are routinely transferred to head a High Court outside their parent state.

A point of constitutional procedure. Judges of the Supreme Court are appointed by the President under Article 124, on the recommendation of the Collegium — the Chief Justice of India and the four senior-most judges — a system established by the Second and Third Judges cases. The convention of appointing judges from different regions and High Courts is what gives the elevation of the first judge from a state its significance.

On the court itself : the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir was renamed the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh after the reorganisation of the state into two Union Territories in 2019.

Hence, the answer is the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court.