New Delhi Feb 27 PTI He has straddled both worlds of Judiciary and Executive After a nearly two-and-a-half-year stint as Union Law Secretary Anoop Kumar Mendiratta returns to the judicial domain as a judge of the Delhi High Court He is likely to take oath as a judge on Monday Mehendiratta a Delhi Judicial Service officer has achieved a rare distinction of sorts in his donning the twin hats He was the first district judge to have been appointed as the Union Law Secretary His return to the realm of the judiciary also sets another record -- Mehendiratta is the first Union Law Secretary to have been appointed as the judge of a high court Mehendiratta took his first steps in the legal world as an advocate in 1987 when he worked under Justice Valmiki J Mehta while he was a practicing advocate and later onwithPandit R K Sharma Naseem Saheb at Delhi High Court and district courts Born and brought up in Delhi Mendirattacompleted his schooling at Salwan Public School After graduation from Delhi University he completed his LLB from Campus Law Centre Delhi University in 1987 As a member of the Delhi Judicial Service he workedin different specialised jurisdictions relating to DDA land acquisition cases electricity NDPS CBI MACT and family courts during a large part of his career The posting as the first joint secretary Law Justice and Legislative Affairs in the Delhi governmentfrom the judicial services helped him to get actively involved in drafting and formulation of laws as well as in the process of formulation of Report for Bifurcation of judicial districts in Delhi The exposure to specialised jurisdictions and large administrative issues provided a platform to him tolater on join the Delhi government as Principal Secretary Law Justice and Legislative Affairs He also looked after the charge of the Delhi Dispute Resolution Society DDRS as the working chairperson and also conducted mediation proceedings being a trained mediator In October 2019 when Mendiratta was appointed as the Union Law Secretary he was the District and Sessions Judge North-East District Karkardooma Courts Usually the posts of secretary legal affairs also called the law secretary and secretary legislative department are held by Indian Legal Service officers But as the government was looking for talent outside the Indian Legal Service to fill up the post of the law secretary it had advertised for interested persons to apply At least 60 people including government officers district judges advocates and legal experts had applied for the post PTI NAB SKU RT RT RT