The government has approved the recommendation of the Collegium to elevate Justice Dipankar Datta to the Supreme Court

According to reports, the Government has approved the recommendation of the Supreme Court Collegium to elevate Bombay High Court Chief Justice Dipankar Datta to the position of a judge of the Supreme Court.

Highly placed sources have reported that the file is now before the President for his signature. As a result, Justice Datta may be sworn in as a Supreme Court judge early next week if the ceremony takes place on Saturday.

On September 26, the Supreme Court Collegium, headed by former Chief Justice U U Lalit, recommended the appointment of Justice Datta. When the file was not cleared, accusations flew thick and fast, with some lawyers questioning the Government during the recent dispute with the top court over the Collegium issue.

Justice Datta was born on February 9, 1965, and enrolled to practice as an attorney on November 16, 1989. During his career, he practised mainly in the Calcutta High Court and at the Supreme Court and other High Courts, in constitutional and civil matters. Upon appointment to the Calcutta High Court on June 22, 2006, he became a permanent judge. Following this elevation, he was appointed Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court on April 28, 2020.

In contrast to the sanctioned number of 34 judges, the top court now consists of 27 working judges. As of January 4, there will be eight vacancies due to the retirement of Justice S Abdul Nazeer. The tenure of seven more judges will also come to an end next year. Justice Datta was the only name to be cleared by the Collegium under Chief Justice Lalit. In an effort to discuss a few other names, two members of the Collegium opposed the clearing of the names by circulating the proposal among them instead of debating it in person.

CJI Lalit, who lasted less than a year, moved to ‘circulation’ as he ran out of time after a Collegium meeting didn’t happen.