Will leave no stone unturned to deliver justice: CJ

Governor RN Ravi administered the oath of office to the new Chief Justice at Raj Bhavan at the swearing-in ceremony that was attended by Chief Minister MK Stalin, Leader of Opposition Edappadi K Palaniswami, Speaker M Appavu, Chief Secretary V Irai Anbu among others.

Later in the day, while delivering his speech at the felicitation ceremony held at the High Court, Justice Bhandari said, “I assure my brother and sister judges and the bar that I will do whatever I can do with my best efforts.” The Chief Justice added that he was aware of the issues faced by the bar and promised to work towards sorting them.

“Figures reveal that the pendency of cases is high in the Madras High Court. We shall work together to resolve that issue. Since I took charge as the Acting CJ, I am working to dispose of cases to reduce the pendency rate. The bar had extended its full cooperation for that,” Justice Bhandari said in his acceptance speech at the court.

Offering his felicitations, Advocate General R Shunmugasundaram hailed Justice Bhandari for attaining the notable distinction of becoming the Chief Justice of the second oldest High Court in the country.

Justice Bhandari assumed charge as the Acting Chief Justice of the Madras High Court on November 22, 2021, after the then Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee was abruptly transferred to Meghalaya High Court. During his tenure as the ACJ, Justice Bhandari passed verdicts in several notable cases pertaining to the waterbody protection, education, local body election, temple related issues and environment.

After the Supreme Court Collegium recommended his elevation on January 29, the President of India appointed the 61-year-old as the new as the Chief Justice.

Justice Bhandari was appointed as a judge to Rajasthan High Court in 2007, and was later transferred to the Allahabad High Court in 2019. He was made the Acting Chief Justice from June to October last year, before being transferred to the Madras High Court.