Imphal, May 22 (IANS) Justice Kempaiah Somashekar was on Thursday sworn in as the ninth Chief Justice of Manipur High Court at a function at the Raj Bhavan here.

Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla administered the oath in the swearing-in ceremony held at the Darbar Hall of Raj Bhavan.

Justice Somashekar of the Karnataka High Court was appointed as the Chief Justice of the High Court of Manipur by the President on May 20.

Judges of the Manipur High Court, the Chief Secretary, the Security Advisor to the government of Manipur, the Director General of Police, top civil, police, military, judicial service officers, and members of the Bar Associations attended the swearing-in ceremony.

The Supreme Court Collegium on May 15 recommended the appointment of Justice Somashekar as the Chief Justice of Manipur High Court after the retirement of incumbent Chief Justice D. Krishnakumar on May 21.

After receiving the recommendation of the SC Collegium, the Union Ministry of Law and Justice obtained the views of the state government. After getting the views of the state government, the Union Ministry had submitted the proposal to the Prime Minister, who then advised the President as to the selection.

After the approval of the appointment by the President, the Department of Justice announced the appointment and issued the notification in the Gazette of India.

Born on September 15, 1963, Justice Somashekar was appointed as an additional judge of the Allahabad High Court in November 2016 and took oath as the permanent Judge of Karnataka HC in November 2018.

On June 17, 1998, he was directly appointed as a District and Sessions Judge in Karnataka. He served as Additional District and Sessions Judge at Bijapur (Vijayapura), the Bangalore City Civil Court, and Principal District and Sessions Judge at Uttara Kannada, Karwar District, Hassan, Bangalore Rural District, and Chitradurga. He also served as Registrar Judicial and Registrar Vigilance of the Karnataka High Court. Before elevation to the Bench, Justice Somashekar practised in Mysore and Chamarajanagar on both civil and criminal sides.

–IANS

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