The Himachal Pradesh High Court received two new judges on Monday as Chief Justice Gurmeet Singh Sandhawalia administered the oath of office and secrecy to Justice Jiyalal Bharadwaj and Justice Romesh Verma. With this appointment, the total number of judges in the High Court, including the Chief Justice, has now reached 13.
The Supreme Court Collegium had approved the proposal to appoint Jiyalal and Romesh as High Court judges on September 15, following which the President gave approval to the Collegium’s recommendation.
The oath-taking ceremony at the High Court was attended by Justice Vivek Singh Thakur, Justice Ajay Mohan Goel, Justice Sandeep Sharma, Justice Jyotsna Rewal Dua, Justice Satyen Vaidya, Justice Sushil Kukreja, Justice Virendra Singh, Justice Ranjan Sharma, and Justice Rakesh Kainthla. Registrar General Bhupesh Sharma conducted the proceedings and read out the appointment warrants issued by the President.
Justice Jiyalal Bharadwaj was born on August 20, 1969, and began his legal practice in 1994 under the chambers of Senior Advocate Arun Kumar Goyal. Justice Romesh Verma was born on May 7, 1974, and started his legal practice in 1999 under the guidance of his father, Senior Advocate GD Verma. Both judges have expertise across all branches of law.
The ceremony was attended by former Supreme Court Justice Deepak Gupta, retired Himachal Pradesh High Court judges including Justice AK Goyal, Justice KC Sood, Justice Surendra Singh, Justice VK Sharma, Justice Rajeev Sharma, Justice Chander Bhushan Barowalia (Lokayukta of Himachal Pradesh), and relatives of the newly appointed judges.
Also present were Advocate General of Himachal Pradesh Anoop Ratan, Bar Council of Himachal Pradesh Chairman Lavnish Kanwar, Bar Association Chairman Hemendra Singh Chandel, Deputy Solicitor General of India Balram Sharma, along with advocates and registrars and staff of the High Court Registry.
