Shimla, Dec 29 (IANS): Justice Gurmeet Singh Sandhawalia was sworn in as the Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court in a simple but impressive ceremony held at Raj Bhavan here on Sunday.

The oath of office was administered by Governor Shiv Pratap Shukla. Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu was also present on the occasion along with his Cabinet colleagues.

Chief Secretary Prabodh Saxena conducted the formal proceedings of the ceremony and read out the warrant of appointment issued by President Droupadi Murmu.

Speaker Vidhan Sabha Kuldeep Singh Pathania, Industries Minister Harshwardhan Chauhan, Revenue Minister Jagat Singh Negi, Judges of Himachal Pradesh High Court, Judges of Punjab and Haryana High Court, Chairman of HP Tourism Development Corporation R. S. Bali, Advocate General Anup Rattan, and other prominent people were present on the occasion.

The Central government on December 24 notified the appointment of Justice Sandhawalia -- the senior-most Judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court -- as the next Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court.

The notification came more than three months after the Supreme Court collegium recommended his appointment as the Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court. He was supposed to take over on October 18 on the retirement of Justice Rajiv Shakdher but the notification was delayed.

Born on November 1, 1965, Justice Sandhawalia graduated with a BA (Honours) from DAV College, Chandigarh, in 1986 and obtained a law degree from the Department of Laws of Panjab University in Chandigarh. He enrolled as an advocate in August 1989 and practised at the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

His father, Justice Surjit Singh Sandhawalia, was the Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court from 1978 to 1983 and of the Patna High Court from 1983 to 1987.