CUTTACK: Justice Mohammad Rafiq was sworn in as the new Chief Justice of Orissa High Court on Monday. Governor Prof Ganeshi Lal administered the oath of office at Lok Seva Bhawan in Bhubaneswar.
Prior to this, Justice Rafiq was the Chief Justice of Meghalaya High Court.
Justice Kalpesh Satyendra Jhaveri was the last Chief Justice of Orissa HC, who retired on February 4. Justice Sanju Panda had since been the Acting Chief Justice.
With Justice Rafiq (60) assuming office as Chief Justice, the number of judges in the High Court went up to 15 against a sanctioned strength of 27.
Justice Rafiq, starting as a judge of the Rajasthan High Court in May, 2006, was also Acting Chief Justice of Rajasthan High Court for two times before joining as Chief Justice of Meghalaya High Court on November 13, 2019.
He joined the legal profession as a member of Rajasthan High Court Bar in 1984.
The Union Ministry of Law and Justice notified his transfer from Meghalaya High Court to Orissa on April 23.
The President gave his assent to such transfer after receiving a recommendation from the Supreme Court collegium on April 18.
Born in Sujangarh of Churu district in Rajasthan on May 25, 1960, Justice Rafiq did his B.Com, LLB and M.Com from the University of Rajasthan. He worked as an Assistant Government Advocate for Rajasthan (1986-87), Deputy Government Advocate (1987-1990) and represented the Union of India as Standing Counsel before Rajasthan High Court from 1992 to 2001.