“I won’t say much today but you will see it in action,” Acting Chief Justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari told a gathering in the court on Monday after the Tamil Nadu governor administered the oath of office.
Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi on Monday administered the oath of office to the acting Chief Justice (ACJ) of Madras High Court Munishwar Nath Bhandari at the Raj Bhavan.
Chief Minister MK Stalin, outgoing ACJ M. Duraiswami, Chief Secretary V. Irai Anbu, judges, ministers, bureaucrats, police officers and others participated.
Later, in the High Court, Advocate General R. Shunmugasundaram and office-bearers of the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry as well as various bar associations welcomed the ACJ.
In his reply to the welcome address, ACJ Bhandari assured the bar that he and his fellow judges would serve the litigants without fear or favour, which they had taken. Expressing his happiness at the opportunity to preside over the prestigious Madras High Court, he told the gathering, “I won’t say much today but you will see it in action.”
Born on September 30, 1960, ACJ Bhandari enrolled as an advocate on May 29, 1983. He was elevated from the Bar to the Rajasthan High Court Bench on July 5, 2007 and transferred to the Allahabad High Court on March 15, 2019. ,
During his practice as an advocate, he has dealt in Constitutional, Civil, Service, Labour, Criminal and Arbitration cases and specialized in Constitutional, Service, Labor and Arbitration Laws.
He had also worked as Standing Counsel for Railways, Rajasthan Road Transport Corporation, Atomic Energy Corporation, State Election Commission, Rajasthan University, Jaipur Development Authority, Jaipur Municipal Corporation, Rajasthan Housing Board etc.
During his tenure at the Allahabad High Court, he served as its acting Chief Justice between June 26, 2021 and October 10, 2021.
According to court sources, Justice Bhandari will be considered for the post of Chief Justice of Madras High Court after December 23 this year.
Currently, two judges – Raghvendra Singh Chauhan and Mohammad Rafiq – from their parents Rajasthan High Court serve as Chief Justices of the Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh High Courts. Of these, Chief Justice Chauhan is due to retire from service on December 23.
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