Justice Amitava Roy sworn in as Supreme Court judge

Justice Amitava Roy has sworn in as a judge of the Supreme Court (SC).
He was administered the oath of office by the Chief Justice of India (CJI) H. L. Dattu and will have a tenure of three years. Prior to this appointment he was Chief Justice of Orissa High Court.
It should be noted that Amitava Roy was appointed as judge of SC through traditional collegium system rather than newly created National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC).
With the elevation of Justice Amitava Roy, the strength of the SC judges has gone up to 29 out of total sectioned strength of 31 judges. At present only one woman judge, Justice R Banumathi is among SC judges.

About Justice Amitava Roy

• Justice Roy had started his legal career by practicing in the district courts in Dibrugarh and Tinsukia in Assam from 1976 to 1981.
• Later in 1981, he shifted his lawyer practice in Gauhati High Court and focused mainly on the Constitutional, Civil, Criminal, Labour and Revenue cases.
• In February 2002, he was appointed as judge of the Gauhati High Court.
• In 2013, Justice Roy was appointed as Chief Justice of the Rajasthan High Court and later in August 2014 as the Chief Justice of Orissa High Court.

Month: Current Affairs - February, 2015