Justice Dipankar Datta takes oath as Supreme Court judge

Tribune News Service

Satya Prakash

New Delhi, December 12

 Justice Dipankar Datta on Monday took oath as a judge of the Supreme Court.

Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud administered the oath of office to him at a brief ceremony in court number 1 of the Supreme Court. Attended by the Supreme Court judges and lawyers, the oath ceremony was live-streamed.

After Justice Datta’s elevation, the working strength of the Supreme Court will reach 28 against a sanctioned strength of 34 judges, including the CJI.

Amid an ongoing stand-off with the Supreme Court Collegium over judicial appointments, the Centre on Sunday notified the appointment of Justice Datta as a judge of the Supreme Court.

Before his elevation to the top court, he was the Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court.

Son of former Calcutta High Court Judge Salil Kumar Datta, Justice Dipankar Datta will have a more than seven-year tenure at the top court and will retire on February 8, 2030.

Justice Datta’s appointment as a judge of the top court was notified 76 days after the Supreme Court collegium led by the then Chief Justice of India UU Lalit recommended his name for elevation on September 26.

A Bench led by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul had pulled up the Government over inordinate delay in clearing the names recommended/reiterated by the Supreme Court Collegium for appointment as judges of the Supreme Court or high courts. “We are really unable to understand or appreciate such delays,” it had said after Supreme Court Bar Association President Vikas Singh raised the issue of Justice Datta’s elevation.

Born on February 9, 1965, Justice Datta obtained his LL.B. degree from the University of Calcutta in 1989 and enrolled as an advocate the same year. He practiced primarily in the Supreme Court and High Courts in Constitutional and civil matters before being elevated as a permanent judge of the Calcutta High Court on June 22, 2006. He was appointed as Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court in April 2020.

#Justice DY Chandrachud #supreme court