New Chief Justice of India
Justice Handyala Lakshminarayanaswamy Dattu has sworn in as the 42nd Chief Justice of India by President Pranab Mukherjee.
63-year-old Justice Dattu took oath in the name of God at a brief ceremony held at the chandeliered Durbar Hall of the Rashtrapati Bhawan.
Vice President Hamid Ansari, Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman PJ Kurien, Union ministers Rajnath Singh, Ravi Shankar Prasad, M Venkaiah Naidu, Ananth Kumar and BJP veteran LK Advani were among those present at the ceremony.
Congress leaders Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Rajeev Shulka were the only prominent opposition leaders who attended the programme. Justice RM Lodha, who retired as the CJI, senior judges of the Supreme Court, the High Court, retired judges and members of the Bar were also present.
Justice Dattu has been heading the bench monitoring investigations into the 2G spectrum scam. He will have a tenure of 14 months and will retire on December 2, 2015.
He joined the Supreme Court as a judge in December 2008. He is the second apex court judge to take oath as the Chief Justice of India this year. Justice Lodha took oath in April this year.
Profile
Born on December 3, 1950, he enrolled as an advocate at the bar on 23 October 1975 and began practising in Bangalore and dealt with all types of matters -civil, criminal, tax and constitutional cases.
From 1983 onwards, he appeared in various capacities before the Karnataka High Court, including as a government pleader for Sales Tax department, standing counsel for Income Tax department and later as a government advocate. After being designated as a senior standing counsel for I-T department in 1995, Dattu was appointed a judge of the Karnataka High Court on 18 December 1995. Thereafter, on 12 February 2007, he was elevated as Chief Justice of Chhattisgarh High Court. On 18 May 2007, he was transferred to head the Kerala High Court.On 5 September 2014, the President of India had appointed Dattu as the next Chief Justice of India, on recommendation of CJI RM Lodha. On 28 September 2014, he sworn in as the 42nd Chief Justice of India . Dattu is known for his penchant for hard work and has few outings with his family and friends. He describes former CJI S. Rajendra Babu as his guru. He has also contributed in the field of social work under organisations like the Rotary Club. He is a fervent devotee of Lord Ganesha.
