Justice M S Ramachandra Rao was sworn in as the chief justice of the Jharkhand High Court here on Wednesday.

Governor Santosh Kumar Gangwar administered the oath of office to Justice Rao at the Raj Bhavan here.

Chief Minister Hemant Soren, Assembly Speaker Rabindra Nath Mahto, state ministers, several judges and senior government officials attended the swearing-in ceremony.

Chief justices were appointed in seven high courts on September 21.

The appointments came after the Supreme Court Collegium amended some of its July 11 recommendations earlier this month.

Justice Rao, who headed the Himachal Pradesh High Court, had been assigned the role of the chief justice of the Jharkhand High Court.

His transfer came days after the Jharkhand government moved the Supreme Court against the BJP-led Centre for not implementing the apex court collegium's recommendation to send Justice Rao to head the state high court.

Justice Rao, a third-generation judge in his family, is a science graduate with Mathematics honours from Bhavans New Science College under Osmania University.

He stood first in the university and thereafter studied law.

He was awarded the CVSS Acharyulu Gold Medal by Osmania University for securing the highest marks in the final year LL.B.

Justice Rao then enrolled as an advocate and achieved his Masters degree from the University of Cambridge, UK in 1991.

He was elevated as an additional judge of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh on June 29, 2012.

He was transferred as judge of Punjab and Haryana high courts in October 2021 and later to Himachal Pradesh High Court.

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