Justice B S Patil took oath as the Lokayukta of Karnataka on Wednesday at the swearing in ceremony organised at the Glass House of Raj Bhavan.
Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot administered the oath of office to the new Lokayukta. The post was vacant for the last five months after the retirement of Justice Vishwanath Shetty.
Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, Opposition leader Siddaramaiah, Home Minister Araga Jnanendra and others were present on the occasion.
Bheemanagouda Sanganagouda Patil was born on June 1, 1956. He started practice law in 1980. He was appointed as the judge of the Karnataka High Court in 2004.
He rendered service for 14 years and retired from the post in 2018. He was appointed to the post of Upalokayukta in 2019 by the ruling BJP government.
His appointment has been challenged by the Samaja Parivartana Samudaya in the High Court. The petitioner claimed that the appointment was made unilaterally without consultation.
During the tenure in High Court, Justice Patil had given a stay order on private complaint against former Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa.
However, the High Court had upheld the appointment of Justice Patil as Upalokayukta and quashed the PIL.