Former Supreme Court Judge Justice Shivraj V Patil sworn in as New Lokayukta of Karnataka

Former Supreme Court Judge Justice Shivraj V Patil was sworn in as the new Lokayukta of Karnataka on 3 August 2011. The oath was administered by Governor H R Bhardwaj at Raj Bhavan. Justice Patil succeeded Justice N Santosh Hegde who vacated office after completing eventful five-year tenure.

Justice Patil headed the one-man committee to inquire into the 2G spectrum allocation issue recently. The committee studied the processes and procedures followed by the Department of Telecommunications in distributing licences and spectrum between 2001-09.

Justice Patil had joined the bar at Gulbarga in 1962. He had also served as part-time lecturer in Seth Shankarlal Lahoti Law College, Gulbarga from 1967 to 1975 and as Principal of the same college from 1975 to 1978.
Justice Patil moved to Bangalore in 1979 to exclusively practise in the Karnataka High Court. He was Standing Counsel for the Bangalore Development Authority and Central Silk Board. He was also the Advocate for Bangalore University and Gulbarga University.

He was elevated as Judge of Karnataka High Court on 29 March 1990. He was later transferred to Madras High Court. He had also served as Chief Justice of High Court of Rajasthan in 1999. Justice Patil was elevated as Judge of the Supreme Court in 2000 and retired in 2005.

Justice Patil has written a book on the life of the great saint Shree Sharanabasaveswara.
Former Karnataka High Court Judge Justice R Gururaj was administered oath of secrecy as Upa-Lokayukta by the Governor.