Justice Gangapurwala to be sworn in as chief justice of Madras HC on Sunday

CHENNAI: Madras high court is set to get a regular chief justice after a gap of nearly nine months, as Justice Sanjay Vijaykumar Gangapurwala is to be sworn in by Tamil Nadu governor R N Ravi on Sunday morning.
The swearing-in function is to take place at the Raj Bhavan at 10-10.15am on Sunday, said sources.
The appointment of Justice Gangapurwala, who is at present acting chief justice of Bombay high court, was notified by the Union ministry of law and justice on Friday. His appointment will take effect from the date he assumes charge of his office, said the notification signed by special secretary Rajinder Kashyap on Friday.
The last fullfledged chief justice of Madras high court was Justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari who retired on September 12, 2022 after a seven-month tenure in the chartered high court. Ever since his retirement, the court has seen three acting chief justices – Justice M Duraiswamy, Justice T Raja, who retired a couple of days ago, and Justice S Vaidyanathan.
Justice S V Gangapurwala, who was born on May 24, 1962, will have a tenure of about one year once he assumes office.
After starting his practice in 1985, Justice Gangapurwala practised in trial courts, Bombay high court and the debt recovery tribunal before his elevation as judge of Bombay high court. He had also served as advocate for financial institutions such as Central Bank of India, Bombay Mercantile Cooperative Bank, Jalgaon Janata Sahakari Bank and many Corporate bodies, besides Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University.
An accomplished sportsman, Justice Gangapurwala had played lawn tennis at national level. He had represented Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Marthwada University six times and captained it twice in All India University Tournament. He had also played basketball at the state-level. He was part-time lecturer in MP Law College since 1991, till the date of his elevation as additional judge of Bombay High Court on March 13, 2010.