Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee of the Madras High Court on Wednesday administered the oath of office to four new judges thereby increasing the working strength of the court to 60 as against its sanctioned strength of 75 judges.
Advocate General R. Shunmugasundaram welcomed the additional judges. Introducing them to the gathering, he said Justice S. Srimathy was born on January 10, 1967 and practised as a lawyer for 32 years since 1989. During her practice in various branches of law, she had worked with some notable lawyers. She had also served in different positions as a counsel for the Centre as well as the State government besides being a nodal counsel for Union Public Service Commission.
Justice D. Bharatha Chakravarthy was born on July 24, 1971 at Thennathur village in Vandavasi taluk. After completing his schooling in Tindivanam, he had obtained law degree from Dr. Ambedkar Government Law College in Puducherry. In his 28 years of legal practice, he had served as a standing counsel for public sector undertakings such as Puducherry Tourism Development Corporation and Puducherry Slum Clearance Board. In 2017, he was appointed as Public Prosecutor for Puducherry.
Justice R. Vijayakumar was born on December 22, 1970. His father A. Ramamoorthy was a former judge of the Madras High Court. He had suspended his legal practice when his father got elevated as a judge and served as a lecturer in government law colleges. Thereafter, he resumed his practice and put in a Bar experience of 23 years..
Justice Mohammed Shaffiq was born at Mannady in Chennai on March 6, 1972. His father S.M. Abdul Khadar was a practising lawyer before the Madras High Court particularly in the field of taxation and civil laws. The judge completed his schooling at St. Bedes Anglo Indian School and graduated from Government Law College, Chennai. In 27 years of legal practice, he conducted cases before 10 High Courts.