Justice Ajay Manikrao Khanwilkar wastoday sworn in as the new Chief Justice of the Himachal HighCourt here.
He was administered the oath of office and secrecy bystate Governor Urmilla Singh in a ceremony at the Raj Bhawan.
Chief Minister V B Singh, Speaker B B L Butail, Leader ofthe Opposition P K Dhumal, cabinet ministers, Judges of HighCourt, senior bureaucrats, judicial officers and otherdignitaries were present on the occasion.
Hailing from Pune in Maharashtra, Justice Khanwilkar wasborn on July 30, 1957. He was appointed Additional Judge ofthe Bombay High Court in 2000 and confirmed as permanent Judgein April 2002. He has been in legal profession for the last 31years.
He did his graduation in Commerce from Mulund College ofCommerce, Mumbai University, and obtained a degree in law fromK C Law College, Mumbai University.
He was enrolled as an Advocate in 1982 and handled civil,criminal and Constitutional matters before the SubordinateCourts, Tribunals and High Court of Judicature at Bombay onthe Appellate Side and started practising exclusively in theSupreme Court of India in 1984.
He was appointed as Standing Counsel for the State ofMaharashtra for Supreme Court matters in October 1985 and alsoworked as Additional Government Advocate for the State ofMaharashtra till December 1989.