The new chief justice's experience and track record will help the Karnataka high court, says chief minister Yeddyurappa.
Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar took over as the new chief justice of Karnataka at a brief swearing-in ceremony held at the Raj Bhavan on Sunday.
Governor Hans Raj Bhardwaj administered the oath of office to justice Khehar, previously the chief justice of Uttarkhand.
The ceremony was attended by chief minister BS Yeddyurappa, law and parliamentary affairs minister S Suresh Kumar and Lokayukta justice N Santosh Hegde.
Judges of the high court, senior counsels and advocates were also present, besides the new chief justice’s mother Satpal Khehar, other family members and friends.
Justice Khehar, who took over from justice PD Dinakaran, was all praise for the state high court. “Karnataka is a beautiful state and the Karnataka high court is so beautiful,” he marvelled.
The president, Pratibha Patil, transferred justice Dinakaran to Sikkim. He would take over as the chief justice of that state.
“We are very happy about the appointment of the new chief justice. We will extend all our support to the new chief justice in ensuring deliverance of justice. His experience and track record will definitely help the Karnataka high court,” chief minister Yeddyurappa said.
Justice Khehar, who will turn 58 on August 28, graduated in science from Government College, Chandigarh, in 1974 and pursued a degree in law from Punjab University in 1977. Two years later, he took his LLM degree from the same institution.
Justice Khehar enrolled as an advocate in 1979, and practiced in the high courts of Punjab and Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and the Supreme Court of India.
He was appointed the additional advocate-general of Punjab in January 1992, and later became the senior standing counsel of the union territory of Chandigarh. He was designated senior advocate in February 1995.
Justice Khehar was the standing counsel for several universities, corporate bodies and cooperative organisations.
He had appeared as counsel for M Krishnaswamy, MP (from the Arani constituency in Tamil Nadu), in the defence of justice V Ramaswami, the then judge of the Supreme Court, before a judges’ inquiry committee constituted to investigate the grounds on which the justice’s removal was sought.
The new Karnataka chief justice was elevated to the bench of high court of Punjab and Haryana on February 8, 1999. He twice served as the acting chief justice of the Punjab and Haryana high court, in August 2008 and November 2009.
His recent and widely discussed judgement was on the importance of unshorn hair for Sikhs.
Known to be a taskmaster, he was elevated as chief justice of the high court of Uttarakhand, at Nainital, on November 29, 2009.
On May 20, 2010, the chairman of the Rajya Sabha appointed justice Khehar as a member of the judges’ inquiry committee investigating the grounds on which the removal of justice PD Dinakaran, former chief justice of the Karnataka high court, was sought.
His removal was sought following allegations of land grabbing.
Justice Khehar would be in judicial service till August 28, 2014.
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