Patna, June 12: Former Jharkhand Governor M Rama Jois was today sworn-in as the 27th Governor of Bihar at a simple ceremony at the Raj Bhavan here. He was administered the oath of office by the senior-most judge of Patna High Court Justice Nagendra Rai as Chief Justice Ravi S Dhawan is out of station.

Bihar Vidhan Parishad chairman Jabir Hussain, Speaker Sadanand Singh, Chief Minister Rabri Devi, RJD president Laloo Prasad Yadav, leader of the opposition Sushil Kumar Modi, several state ministers, judges of the high court and a host of senior officials were present at the oath taking ceremony.

Jois' predecessor V C Pande has been shifted as Governor to Arunachal Pradesh.

Jois, who hails from Araga village of Shimoga district in Karnataka became the chief justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court in 1992, the post which he held till his retirement.

After obtaining his bachelor of law degree from Mysore University, he enrolled himself as an advocate at the Bangalore High Court in 1959 and was appointed its judge in 1977.

Credited with having authored several books on legal affairs, Jois was also awarded the Naresh Chandra Sengupta gold medal by Asiatic Society, Kolkata, for his outstanding contribution to the society and law in 1999.

He had also been the honorary professor at National Law School of India University, Bangalore.

Bureau Report