Somashekar sworn in as new chief justice of Manipur High Court

Ajay Kumar Bhalla administering the oath of office to the new chief justice of Manipur High Court in Imphal on Thursday.

• IMPHAL — Justice Kempaiah Somashekar was sworn in as the 9th chief justice of the High Court of Manipur on Thursday.
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• Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla administered the oath of office in a ceremony held at Raj Bhavan in Imphal.
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• Judges of High Court of Manipur including Justice Ahanthem Bimol and Justice Aribam Guneshwor; Chief Secretary PK Singh; Security Advisor to Government of Manipur, Kuldiep Singh; Director General of Police, Rajiv Singh, and representatives of bar associations, attended the swearing in ceremony of the new chief justice.

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• Sixty-two-year-old Justice Kempaiah Somashekar of Karnataka High Court was appointed as the chief justice of Manipur High Court by the President of India on May 20, 2025.
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• Justice Somashekar began his legal career in 1990. He practiced law in Mysore and Chamarajanagar before becoming a district and sessions judge in 1998. Later, he was elevated to additional judge of the Karnataka High Court in 2016.
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• Somashekar, who previously served as registrar judicial and registrar vigilance of Karnataka High Court, was appointed as a permanent judge on November 3, 2018.
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• It may be mentioned that the outgoing chief justice of Manipur High Court, Justice D Krishnakumar, who was sworn in as chief justice on November 22 last year, retired on May 21 this year. Justice Krishnakumar was a former judge of Madras High Court.