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Amid collegium dispute, government passes file pending for two and a half months, Justice Dipankar Dutta will be able to become SC judge

Amid controversies over the collegium, the central government has approved the recommendation of the Supreme Court Collegium to elevate Bombay High Court Chief Justice Dipankar Datta as a Supreme Court judge. The file recommending his name was pending for two and a half months.

Highly placed sources have told The Indian Express that the file is now with President Draupadi Murmu to sign the warrant of appointment. He said that if this happens on Saturday, Justice Dutta could be sworn in as a Supreme Court judge early next week.

Justice Dutta’s name was recommended by the Supreme Court Collegium headed by former Chief Justice UU Lalit on September 26. Some lawyers had raised several questions on the central government during the government’s recent standoff with the apex court on the collegium issue when the file was not cleared by the Center promptly.

Born on February 9, 1965, Justice Dipankar Dutta enrolled as an advocate on November 16, 1989. He practiced mainly in the Calcutta High Court and the Supreme Court in matters of civil and constitutional matters. He was made a permanent judge of the Calcutta High Court on June 22, 2006. He was later elevated as the Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court on April 28, 2020.

At present, 27 judges are working in the Supreme Court against the sanctioned strength of 34 judges. Next month, the vacancy of judges will increase to eight when Justice S Abdul Nazeer retires on January 4. Apart from him, the term of seven more judges is going to be completed next year. In reality, only Justice Datta’s name was approved by the collegium under former CJI Lalit. Some other names were discussed but two members of the collegium opposed the approval of the proposed name among the collegium members.