Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka takes oath as Karnataka HC chief justice

Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka Friday took oath as the chief justice of Karnataka High Court. At a simple ceremony here, governor Vajubhai Vala administered oath to Justice Oka who had previously served as a judge in the Bombay High Court.

Prior to oath-taking, chief secretary T M Vijay Bhaskar read out the order issued by the Rastrapati Bhavanj regarding Justice Okas appointment as the new chief justice of Karnataka High Court. On the occasion, chief minister H D Kumaraswamy, Bengaluru mayor Gangambike Mallikarjun, acting chief justice L Narayanaswamy and the director general of police Neelamani M Raju were present.

After the elevation of Karnataka chief Justice Dinesh Maheshwari as a judge in the Supreme Court, the Centre notified the appointment of Justice Oka as the chief justice of Karnataka. Oka was one of the senior-most judges of the Bombay High Court. He had enrolled as an Advocate in 1983 and started practising in Thane district court. He was elevated as additional judge of the Bombay High Court in August, 2003 and appointed as a permanent Judge in November 2005.