Mumbai, Aug 25 Justice Sunil Shukre (retired) was appointed as the Lokayukta of Maharashtra on Tuesday.
Governor Jishnu Dev Varma administered the oath of office to him at Lok Bhavan in Mumbai.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar congratulated Shukre after he took the oath as the head of the state's anti-corruption ombudsman institution.
Shukre retired as a judge of the Bombay High Court in October 2023. The Maharashtra government later appointed him chairperson of the Maharashtra State Backward Class Commission (MSBCC) in December 2023, following the resignation of its then chairperson, retired Justice Anand Nirgude.
Shukre headed the rapid statewide survey and submitted the crucial report in February 2024 detailing the backwardness of the Maratha community, which served as the backbone for the state's 10 per cent reservation legislation.
His appointment to the MSBCC came amid intense political debate over the Maratha reservation issue. The commission was tasked with collecting empirical data and establishing the social, educational and economic backwardness of the Maratha community.
Shukre had also been part of a seven-member delegation formed by the state government to hold talks with Maratha reservation activist Manoj Jarange during his nine-day hunger strike at Antarwali Sarati in Jalna district.
His inclusion in the delegation had attracted attention as he had retired from the high court only weeks earlier and was subsequently entrusted with the sensitive task of examining the reservation issue.
During his judicial career, Shukre served as principal district judge in Kolhapur and Nagpur and as registrar (Administration) at the HC's Nagpur bench. He also served as joint director of the Maharashtra Judicial Academy at Uttan in Thane district and took charge as registrar general of the Bombay High Court in March 2011.
Shukre was elevated as a judge of the Bombay HC in 2013 and retired from the post in October 2023.
