JUSTICE DIPANKAR DATTA
Date of Birth : 09-02-1965
Assumed Office : 12-12-2022
Retires on: 08-02-2030
No. of Judgements authored : 81
JUDGEMENTS:
- Association for Democratic Reforms v Election Commission of India
VVPATs for Voter Verification
- Aligarh Muslim University Through its Registrar Faizan Mustafa v Naresh Agarwal
AMU Minority Status
Born on February 9, 1965, Justice Datta is a second-generation judge. His father the late Justice Salil Kumar Datta, who served as a Judge of the Calcutta High Court.
Justice Datta began practicing law in 1989 at the Calcutta High Court after completing his legal education at the Department of Law, University of Calcutta. His career included:
1996–2000: Served as a Guest Lecturer in Constitutional Law at the University of Calcutta.
1998: Appointed as Counsel for the Union of India.
2002: Became Junior Standing Counsel for the State of West Bengal.
Judicial Career
Calcutta High Court (2006–2020): Justice Datta was appointed a Permanent Judge in 2006, serving nearly 14 years.
Chief Justice, Bombay High Court (2020–2022): Elevated to Chief Justice in April 2020, where he presided over notable cases.
Supreme Court (2022–2030): His appointment came amidst tensions between the Supreme Court and the Union Law Ministry over the Collegium system, with the Centre delaying his appointment by five weeks—a move criticised by the Supreme Court.
READ ALSO:“Avoid Personal Criticism of Judges, Criticise Erroneous Judgments”: Supreme Court
Notable Judgments
In Nilesh Navalakha v Union of India, a Bombay High Court Bench, including Justice Datta, admonished media interference in the investigation, emphasizing the distinction between ‘media trials’ and informative reporting to safeguard the presumption of innocence.
In Agij Promotion of Nineteenonea Media Pvt. Ltd. v Union of India, Chief Justice Datta and Justice G.S. Kulkarni stayed Rules 9(1) and 9(3) of the IT Rules, which imposed excessive obligations on publishers, asserting these rules were unrelated to the IT Act or IT Rules.