Justice Rajnesh Oswal becomes the first Judge of J&K High Court to take oath exclusively in the name of Indian Constitution
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Apr 4, 2020, 11:28 am IST
Rajnesh Oswal taking oath as a Judge of the Jammu & Kashmir High Court under the Indian Constitution
Rajnesh Oswal took oath as a judge of the Jammu & Kashmir High Court on April 2. He became the first one to do so under the Indian Constitution. High Court Chief Justice Gita Mittal administered the oath to Oswal in the central hall of the court complex in Jammu.
All previous judges of the J&K High court had taken oath under the Constitution of Jammu & Kashmir, which ceased to have effect since August 5, 2019. Following the amendment of Article 370 and reorganisation of the State into two Union Territories, judges have to take oath under the Indian Constitution. Previously, the oath taking process in J&K was under the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution of J&K.
Oath taken by a High Court Judge under the old Jammu & Kashmir Constitution
On account of guidelines for containment of Corona virus pandemicto maintain social distancing other Judges of the High Court of J&Kjoined the oath ceremony through video link. The oath-takingceremony was broadcast online. It is pertinent to mention that this isfor the first time in the history of Indian Judiciary, that other Judgesof the High Court attended the oath ceremony through videoconferencing.
High Court Registrar General Sanjay Dhar read out the Warrant ofAppointment issued by the President of India. He also read out theLetter of Authorisation issued by the Lieutenant Governor of J&K.The ceremony was attended by some Justices, J&K police chief DilbagSingh, Advocate General and others.
The Central Government had cleared the appointment of advocateRajnesh Oswal as a judge of the common High Court for the UT ofJ&K and UT of Ladakh on January 29.
With the appointment of Justice Rajnesh Oswal as Judge of the HighCourt, the strength of J&K High Court increased from eight to nine.The J&K High Court has sanctioned strength of 17 Judges including 13Permanent Judges and 4 Additional Judges.
Justice Rajnesh Oswal had also served as Standing Counsel for CrimeBranch Jammu and panel Lawyer for J&K High Court. Earlier, he didhis graduation from GGM Science College and LLB from JammuUniversity and had also received Gold Medal in LLB academics.
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