Justice Vikramajit Sen was sworn in as the new Chief Justice of the Karnataka high court on Saturday. Governor H R Bhardwaj administered the oath of office to the new CJ at a ceremony held at the Glass House in Raj Bhavan.

Union law minister Salman Khurshid, minister for law and parliamentary affairs S Suresh Kumar, Supreme Court judge H L Dattu and family members of justice Sen attended the swearing-in ceremony.

Justice Sen had been officiating as the acting CJ since September 12 when he was transferred to the Karnataka high court from the Delhi high court.


An eminent jurist

Justice Sen was on the full bench of the Delhi HC that had dismissed the appeal of the apex court which had opposed bringing the office of the Chief Justice of India under the purview of the Right to Information Act.

As a principal judge on another division bench, justice Sen had held that a mistress or a live-in partner is to be treated at par with a wife under the Domestic Violence Act, 2005.

A Sportsman too

Born on December 31, 1950, Justice Sen attended St Xavier's School, Delhi. He graduated from St Stephen's College with an Honours in History. He finished his LLB from Faculty of Law, Delhi University. He captained faculty teams in basketball and tennis.

After enrolling in the bar, he practised primarily in the Delhi high court. He handled civil, arbitration and commercial disputes, with a special interest in minority rights. He was also a member of the panel that recommended changes in personal laws relating to Christians. He was also on the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Tribunal that upheld the ban on Deendar Anjuman and LTTE.