Shillong, Oct 3: Justice Indra Prasanna Mukerji (61) was sworn in as the Chief Justice of the High Court of Meghalaya on Thursday at the Durbar Hall of the Raj Bhavan here.
Governor CH Vijayashankar administered the oath to the new Chief Justice.
Neither the chief minister Conrad Sangma nor the deputy chief ministers was present.
Opposition Leader Mukul Sangma, Law Minister Ampareen Lyngdoh and Food and Civil Supplies Minister Comingone Ymbon besides government officials attended the ceremony.
The post was vacant after Chief Justice S. Vaidyanathan retired on August 16.
Since then, Justice HS Thangkhiew has been officiating as the Acting Chief Justice.
The Supreme Court collegium had first approved the appoinment of Justice Tashi Rabstan as Chief Justice of High Court of Meghalaya, but later made amendment to appoint Calcutta High Court Judge Mukerji as the Chief Justice of the Meghalaya High Court.
BIODATA
Born on 6 September, 1963, into a family of lawyers, both his father and paternal grandfather were barristers and senior Advocates at the Calcutta High Court, while his maternal grandfather served as a senior lawyer at the Kanpur District Court.He received his education at St. Xavier’s School and College in Calcutta, later obtaining LL.B. degrees from the University of Calcutta and the University of London through external examination. He was enrolled as an advocate on 2nd July, 1990, practicing at the Calcutta High Court with a focus on civil law, particularly in revenue and arbitration matters. At the time of his elevation to the bench, he served as a Senior Panel Counsel for the Government of India and the Damodar Valley Corporation. In 2005, he briefly taught at NUJS, Kolkata. He was also a member of the I.L.R. Committee of the High Court and the General Committee of the Bar Library Club. He was elevated to the bench of the Calcutta High Court as a Permanent Judge on May 18 2009. He was appointed as Chief Justice of the High Court of Meghalaya on September 21 and took oath on Thursday.
He will retire on September 5, 2025.
He was the seniormost puisne Judge of the High Court at Calcutta and ranks at serial no 7 in the All India Seniority list of High Court Judges, including Chief Justices.
