Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi takes oath as Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court

Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi on Monday took oath as the Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court at the Glass House of Raj Bhavan, Bengaluru.

The oath was administered by Karnataka Governor Thawar Chand Gehlot with many State officials including the Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai attending the function.

The ceremony was live-streamed on the Youtube Channel of the High Court.

Justice Awasthi graduated in law from Lucknow University in 1986. He enrolled as an advocate on February 1, 1987 and practiced primarily in civil, service and educational matters before the Allahabad High Court.

He was elevated as an Additional Judge of the High Court on April 13, 2009 and was made permanent on December 24, 2010.

He also worked as the Assistant Solicitor General of India at Lucknow before his elevation as a judge of the High Court.

On October 9, the Central government had notified the appointment of new Chief Justices for 13 High Courts across the country including Justice Awasthi.

Justice Awasthi has succeeded Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka as the Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court, after the latter was elevated as a judge of the Supreme Court few months ago.

During the interim period, Justice Satish Chandra Sharma served as the acting Chief Justice of the High Court. He has now been elevated as the Chief Justice of the Telangana High Court.