Justice H L Dattu is set to become the next Chief Justice of India. Moving swiftly, the government on Monday cleared his appointment to the topmost judicial post, promptly clearing the file it received from Chief Justice of India R M Lodha on Friday.
The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has now forwarded the file relating to Justice Dattu’s appointment to the President for his approval. CJI Lodha retires on the 27th of this month after which Justice Dattu will have a tenure of more than a year till December 2015.
Justice Dattu will take over at a time when the Narendra Modi government has brought in the National Judicial Appointments Commission Bill that does away with the collegium system of appointing judges. The bill, which has been passed by both houses of Parliament and is set to become a law once ratified by states, envisages that Chief Justice of India will head the NJAC. Besides him, the judiciary would be represented by two senior judges of the Supreme Court while two “eminent personalities” and the law minister will be the other members of the proposed body.
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