Justice JK Maheshwari was sworn in as the Chief Justice of Andhra Pradesh High Court on Monday. Governor Biswabhusan Harichandan administered the oath at a ceremony at Tummalapalli Kalakshetram in Vijayawada.
Justice Maheshwari took charge as the first Chief Justice of the recently bifurcated Andhra Pradesh High Court. Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy was also present at the ceremony, along with lawyers and officials from the Andhra Pradesh High Court. Andhra Pradesh Chief Secretary LV Subrahmanyam initiated the proceedings.
Justice Jitendra Kumar Maheshwari was earlier working as a senior judge at the Madhya Pradesh High Court. His elevation to this post was proposed by the Supreme Court Collegium in its resolution dated August 22, 2019.
The position of the Andhra Pradesh High Court Chief Justice had been lying vacant since the day of its inception. Following its creation, the High Court, which was functioning from the state capital Amaravati, was being headed by the Acting Chief Justice Chagari Praveen Kumar, along with 12 other sitting judges.
Justice Maheshwari was an advocate at the Madhya Pradesh High Court from 1985 and had been appointed as a judge of Madhya Pradesh HC in 2005.
The appointment was announced by the Centre on October 3, along with the change of chief justices in as many as six other High Courts. Justice Ravi Shanker Jha, Acting Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court, was appointed as Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana HC, while Justice Indrajit Mohanty of the Bombay High Court was given charge as Chief Justice of the Rajasthan High Court.
Justice Arup K Goswami was appointed as Sikkim High Court Chief Justice and Justice Ajai Lamba was appointed as Chief Justice of Guwahati. Justice S. Manikumar of the Madras High Court was appointed as the Chief Justice of Kerala High Court.