Justice Ramachandra Rao new Chief Justice of HP High Court

Legal Correspondent

Shimla, May 30

Justice Mamidanna Satya Ratna Sri Ramachandra Rao was sworn in as the Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court here today. Governor Shiv Pratap Shukla administered him the oath of office at the Raj Bhawan here in the presence of Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu. Chief Secretary Prabodh Saxena conducted the proceedings of the oath-taking ceremony and read out the Warrant of Appointment issued by the President of India.

First Lady Janaki Shukla, Assembly Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania, Industries Minister Harshwardhan Chauhan, Leader of the Opposition Jai Ram Thakur and judges of the Himachal Pradesh High Court, Punjab and Haryana High Court and the Telangana High Court, were also present on the occasion.

Justice Ramachandra Rao was born in Hyderabad on August 7, 1966. He did his B.Sc. (Hons) in mathematics from Bhavan’s New Science College, Hyderabad, and LL.B from the University College of Law, Osmania University, Hyderabad, in 1989.

He was enrolled as advocate in September 1989. Later, he secured a LL.M degree from the University of Cambridge, UK, in 1991. He was awarded the Cambridge Common Wealth Scholarship and the Bank of Credit and Commerce International Scholarship for LL.M studies at the University of Cambridge, UK. He was also awarded the Pegasus Scholarship by the Scholarship Trust, London.

Justice Ramachandra Rao was elevated as a Judge of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh in June 2012 and was appointed to perform the duties of the office of the Chief Justice for the state of Telangana from August 31, 2021. He had remained a Judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court as well.

His father, Mr Justice M. Jagannadha Rao, was a former Judge of the Supreme Court (1997-2000) and a former Chairman of the Law Commission of India. His grandfather was also a Judge of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh from 1960-1961.