The President of India has appointed Justice HG Ramesh as Acting Chief Justice of the High Court of Karnataka effective October 10, 2017, consequent to the retirement of Chief Justice Subhro Kamal Mukherjee.
Justice Ramesh enrolled as an Advocate in July 1982. He practised in the High Court of Karnataka from 1982 to 2003. He was appointed as an Additional Judge on May 12, 2003 and as a Permanent Judge on September 24, 2004.
Earlier this year, Justice Ramesh had declined to take up the post of Chief Justice of the Madras High Court. The refusal was reportedly in protest of the elevation of Justice S Abdul Nazeer to the Supreme Court at the time.
Justice Nazeer was appointed despite being the fourth senior-most judge of the High Court, superseding Justice HG Ramesh, Justice Jayant Patel and former Chief Justice SK Mukherjee, apparently in the interest of community representation. Justice Ramesh had addressed a letter to then Chief Justice of India JS Khehar in February, protesting the same. The letter stated,
“The Constitution of India doesn’t provide for reservation on the basis of religion or caste in the matter of appointment of judges to the high court and Supreme Court.”
Read order below.