K. Somashekar

Kempaiah Somashekar (born 15 September 1963) is an Indian judge who is the Chief Justice of Manipur High Court. He also served as a judge of Karnataka High Court.

Hon’ble Chief Justice Kempaiah Somashekar
9th Chief Justice of Manipur High Court
Incumbent
Assumed office 22 May 2025
Nominated by	Bhushan Ramkrishna Gavai
Appointed by	Droupadi Murmu
Preceded by	D. Krishnakumar
Judge of Karnataka High Court
In office 14 November 2016 – 21 May 2025
Nominated by	Tirath Singh Thakur
Appointed by	Pranab Mukherjee
Personal details
Born	(1963-09-15) 15 September 1963 (age 61)

Early life and education

Justice Somshekar was born on 15 September 1963. He enrolled as an advocate on 27 January 1990 and started practising law in Mysore and Chamarajanagar Districts on both Civil and Criminal sides.^[1]

Career

He was directly appointed as District and Sessions Judge on 17 June 1998 and served as Additional Districts and Sessions Judge at Bijapur (Vijayapura) and City Civil Court, Bangalore. He also served as Principal District and Sessions Judge at Uttara Kannada, Karwar District; Hassan; Bangalore Rural District, Chitradurga. He then served as Principal City Civil and Sessions Judge, Bangalore and also served as Registrar Judicial and Registrar Vigilance at High Court of Karnataka.^[2][3]

He was elevated to bench as an additional judge of Karnataka High Court on 14 November 2016 and was confirmed as permanent Judge on 3 November 2018.^[2][3]

On 15 May 2025, Supreme court collegium led by Chief Justice of India Bhushan Ramkrishna Gavai recommended his elevation as Chief Justice of Manipur High Court.^[4] This was cleared by central government on 20 May 2025. He assumed office as 9th Chief Justice of Manipur High Court on 22 May 2025.^[1][5]