High Courts of Meghalaya, Karnataka and Orissa get new Chief Justices

Justice Dinesh Maheshwari, a Judge of the Allahabad High Court, has been elevated as the Chief Justice of the Meghalaya High Court.

Justice Maheshwari, who hails from Rajasthan, has succeeded Justice Uma Nath Singh who demitted office on January 14 last. Born on May 15, 1958, Justice Maheshwari graduated in Law from Jodhpur University in 1980.He was enrolled as an Advocate on March 8, 1981 and was elevated as a Judge of the Rajasthan High Court on September 2, 2004 Later, he was transferred to Allahabad High Court as a senior judge at the Lucknow Bench of the High Court on July 19, 2014.

Justice Subhro Kamal Mukherjee, who was the Acting Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court, was appointed as the Chief Justice of that High Court.

Mukherjee, who born on October 10, 1955, is a sixth-generation lawyer in his family. After obtaining MA, LLB, from the University of Calcutta, he joined the legal profession on July 5, 1982, as an advocate and practised in civil and writ matters. He was elevated as Permanent Judge of the High Court of Calcutta on September 15, 2000. He took oath as a Judge of Karnataka High Court on April 15, 2015. He was appointed as Acting Chief Justice June 1, 2015.

Also Justice Vineet Saran, a Judge of the Karnataka High Court has been elevated as the Chief Justice of the Orissa High Court.

While the Meghalaya High Court was functioning with Acting Chief Justices since January, the Karnataka High Court was performing with an Acting Chief since late last year.

Earlier this month, Orissa High Court Chief Justice D H Waghela was transferred to the Bombay High Court.

On February 3, Justice Ramayyagari Subhash Reddy was elevated as the Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court, the first such appointment to the higher judiciary in the last ten months.

Justice Reddy, a Judge of the Andhra Pradesh/Telangana High Court, was elevated as the Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court, becoming the first Judge to be elevated as Chief Justice of a High Court since April 13 last when the government had brought into force the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) Act which had overturned the collegium system of appointing Judges.

The NJAC Act was later struck down by the Supreme Court, which led to the return of the collegium system. Read the Live Law Article here.