Sh. Girish Chandra Saxena took over as the head of the State on 2nd of May 1998 for the second time. Earlier, he held the office of the Governor J&K from May 26, 1990 to March 13, 1993.

Sh. Saxena was born at Agra in 1928. He had his early education in Government College Allahabad and G.N. K. High School, Kanpur. He did Intermediate course from Queen’s Intermediate College, Varanasi, graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Allahabad in 1946 and obtained the Post-Graduate Degree of Master of Arts(History) from the same University in 1948.

Sh. Saxena joined the Indian Police Service in 1950 and served in Uttar Pradesh as Chief of Police in various districts including Rampur, Aligarh, Bareily and Allahabad. Afterwards, he came on deputation to the Government of India in April 1969, served in R&AW(Research and Analysis Wing) for 16 years, and headed it from 1983 to 1986. Thereafter, he remained as advisor to the Late Prime Minister of India Sh. Rajiv Gandhi for two years till January 31, 1988.

Sh. Saxena's main areas of specialization are international affairs, national security and intelligence matters. He has attended international Conferences in India and abroad on these subjects, given talks and participated in many seminars and panel discussions. He addressed the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration in 1998.

He is married to Rajni Saxena nee Rajni Kaul and has two daughters and four grand children. His main hobby is sports, having been University Blue in Cricket and Badminton. He has also played Hockey, Football, Tennis, Table Tennis and Golf. Other hobbies include travelling, trekking and reading.