The number of judges in the High Court of Karnataka has reached 30 after a gap of a year against the sanctioned strength of 62, with the swearing in of five additional judges on Wednesday.
Justices Dixit Krishna Shripad, Shankar Ganapathi Pandit, Ramakrishna Devdas, Bhotanhosur Mallikarjuna Shyam Prasad, and Siddappa Sunil Dutt Yadav took oath from Governor Vajubhai R. Vala at the Raj Bhavan.
Born on July 20, 1964, Justice Dixit hails from a family of agriculturists in Masur village, Hirekerur taluk, of Haveri district. He became an advocate in July 1989 after completing graduation in science and law from Karnatak University. He secured second rank in the L.L.B course. He was standing counsel for various statutory and constitutional bodies such as the Election Commission of India, and was serving as Assistant Solicitor-General of India for Karnataka HC till his elevation as judge.
Hailing from Honnavar in Uttara Kannada district, 52-year-old Justice Pandit joined the legal profession in 1990, after his graduation in commerce, and later in law. He had practised law before tribunals and the High Court and he had served as standing counsel for the Union Public Service Commission, Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, and other statutory bodies.
Fourty-eight-year-old Justice Devdas, is the son of M. Ramakrishna, who was a former Chief Justice of Jammu & Kashmir, and Gauhati High Courts. He began his profession as a lawyer in 1994. He was serving as Principal Government Advocate in the HC till his elevation as judge. Justice Shyam Prasad, born on January 8, 1971 in Tiptur of Tumakuru district, is the son of B.N. Mallikarjuna, former judge of the Karnataka HC. He started his career as a lawyer in 1994 after obtaining degrees in arts and law. He was designated as senior counsel by the HC in July 2014.
Hailing from Bengaluru, 45-year-old Justice Yadav secured his law degree from the National Law School of India University in 1996 and he is a recipient of a gold medal in intellectual property law. He began practising law in 1997 and served as special counsel for State government in litigations related to Bangalore Mysore Infrastructure Corridor Project, and a panel advocate for the Vijaya Bank.
Earlier, Karnataka HC’s new Chief Justice, Dinesh Maheshwari, who assumed office on Monday, was offered a welcome by members of the bar.
