Ex-Bombay HC Chief Justice Dipankar Datta takes oath as Supreme Court judge

Justice Dipankar Datta was sworn in as Supreme Court judge by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud on December 12. Justice Datta was the former Bombay High Court Chief Justice.

The Department of Justice in the Union Law Ministry issued a notification announcing the appointment.

“In exercise of the powers conferred by clause (2) of Article 124 of the Constitution of India, the President is pleased to appoint Shri Justice Dipankar Datta, Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court, to be a Judge of the Supreme Court of India with effect from the date he assumes charge of his office,” the notification read.

His appointment to the Supreme Court raises the judicial strength to 28 out of a total sanctioned strength of 34 judges for the court.

57-year-old Justice Datta will have a nearly eight-year tenure in the Supreme court until his retirement in February 2030 at the age of 65.

His name was recommended by a Supreme Court Collegium led by Justice U.U. Lalit on September 26.

The pendency of his file with the government for well over two months had been a source of consternation for both the Supreme Court and the apex court lawyers’ community.

Another notification issued by the ministry said Justice Sanjay Vijaykumar Gangapurwala, senior-most judge in the high court after Justice Datta, will be the Acting Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court after the incumbent relinquishes his charge.

Justice Datta was elevated to the bench of the Calcutta High Court as a permanent judge on June 22, 2006. He was made the Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court on April 28, 2020.

Justice Datta is the son of late Justice Salil Kumar Datta, who served as a judge of the Calcutta High Court, and brother-in-law of Justice Amitava Roy, who was a former judge of the apex court.