Justice Sonia Gokani was sworn in as the Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court on Thursday, becoming the first woman judge to be elevated to the post at the high court, just a few days before her retirement on February 25.
Governor Acharya Devvrat administered the oath of office to Justice Gokani at Raj Bhavan in Gandhinagar. Assembly Speaker Shankar Chaudhary, Judge of Supreme Court Justice Bela Trivedi, Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and state Law and Justice Minister Rishikesh Patel were present on the occasion.
Justice Gokani’s appointment was approved by the Centre on February 12, and she had been serving as Chief Justice (Designate) since February 13. Her appointment came as Justice Aravind Kumar was elevated as a judge of the Supreme Court.
Justice Gokani, who joins as the 28th Chief Justice of Gujarat High Court, will retire on February 25, making her tenure the shortest.
Born on February 26, 1961, in Gujarat’s Jamnagar, she was elevated as the additional judge of the Gujarat High Court on February 17, 2011, and confirmed as a permanent judge on January 28, 2013.
She joined the judiciary directly as a judge at the city civil and sessions court in Ahmedabad on July 10, 1995, and presided over many civil and criminal matters.
Justice Gokani also worked as a judge for the special court set up under anti-terror laws, and conducted important matters from 2003 to 2008. She also worked as a special judge for cases investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Before that, as an advocate, she worked with various organisations for the cause of the downtrodden, women and children, as also for upholding the cause of the environment, reads her profile on the Gujarat High Court website.
She also served as a part-time lecturer at Shri K P Shah Law College in Jamnagar and was a member of the district consumer disputes redressal forum for nearly five years before joining the judiciary.
Justice Gokani was first deputed to the Gujarat High Court in March 2008 as registrar (recruitment) for the recruitment of judicial officers up to the cadre of district judges.
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