Justice Rajiv Shakdher sworn in as HP Chief Justice

Justice Rajiv Shakdher was sworn in as the Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court on Wednesday.

Governor Shiv Pratap Shukla administered the oath of office to Justice Shakdher at the Raj Bhavan here.

The notification for his appointment was issued on September 21.

Justice Shakdher will have a short tenure as Himachal High Court Chief Justice as his retirement is due on October 18.

Born on October 19, 1962, Justice Shakdher was appointed as Additional Judge of Delhi High Court on April 11, 2008, and a permanent judge on October 17, 2011. He served in Madras High Court from April, 2016, to January 2018, before coming back to the Delhi High Court.

Justice Shakdher was designated as Senior Advocate in 2005. As a lawyer, he practised in the Supreme Court of India, the Delhi High Court and other high courts.

He has rich experience in civil litigation, constitutional law, with special emphasis on commercial litigation, corporate and taxation laws. 

During his tenure, he delivered several landmark judgements on a variety of issues, including the criminalisation of marital rape.

Justice Shakdher, in May 2022, ruled in favour of criminalising marital rape, even as the second judge on the bench, Justice C Hari Shankar, held to the contrary and refused to strike down the exception.

In his judgment, Justice Shakdher said the immunity to the husband is “steeped in patriarchy and misogyny” and non-consensual sex in a marriage is an antithesis of what matrimony stands for in modern times i.e. the relationship of equals.

Justice Shakdher completed his schooling from St.Columba’s School, Delhi. He did B.Com. (Hons.) from Delhi University in 1984, obtained LL.B. degree from Law Faculty, University of Delhi in 1987 and enrolled as an advocate on November 19, 1987.

He completed Chartered Accountancy from Institute of Chartered Accountants of India in 1987. He also pursued an Advanced Course of Law at Institute of Advanced Legal Studies from University of London in 1994. —with PTI