Elevation of Justice Dipankar Datta to Supreme Court should be taken ahead: SCBA President Vikas Singh

Senior Advocate Vikas Singh implored Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud on Monday to ensure that the elevation of Justice Dipankar Datta, Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court to the Supreme Court is carried through..Singh, also the president of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), said that there should not be a change in stance with a change in composition of the Supreme Court Collegium. The SCBA president was speaking at the felicitation function of CJI Chandrachud, where he said, "Chief Justice Dipankar Datta was recommended six weeks ago, and that decision should not die down now since collegium composition has changed. It must be taken ahead.".The senior counsel spoke of the need for the judiciary to uphold the Constitution, and expressed confidence that with a two-year tenure the new CJI would do his best towards the same. .Justice Dipankar Datta, born on February 9, 1965 was earlier a judge of the Calcutta High Court. His brother-in-law Justice Amitava Roy is a former judge of the Supreme Court. Datta enrolled as an advocate on November 16, 1989 and was elevated to the to Calcutta High Court on June 22, 2006.On 23 April 2020, he was appointed Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court, and was sworn in on April 28, 2020. For the oath-taking ceremony, he travelled to Mumbai from Kolkata by road. The Supreme Court Collegium had on 26 September this year recommended his elevation. .In CJI Chandrachud's speech on the occasion, the newly-sworn in Chief Justice of India fondly recalled his experiences at the Bar as a young lawyer. He expressed his gratitude towards the Bar, underlining that he is one among them..The CJI also revealed that he used to drive around a 1966 model Ambassador car during his days as a young lawyer, and would put the classic car to good use to augment his legal skills." ... while driving my seniors, I used to take longer routes just to absorb more from the senior and their arguments," he said..The Chief Justice of India further stressed that the district judiciary needs exhaustive reforms including on the infrastructure front, highlighting instances where many women district judges do not have access to washrooms.He deprecated the culture of subordination and hierarchy among judges, which he said is a relic of our colonial past and called for a change in mindset in this regard.The CJI explained that a Chief Justice of India is only the "first among equals", and he aims to tap into the collective wisdom of the other judges of the top court..A Supreme Court bench led by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul had last week, taken note of a similar submission by Singh and issued notice to the Union Law Secretary on the Central government's delay in processing and approving names proposed by the Collegium. The bench had made clear that that keeping names on hold was not acceptable, and it was not able to understand the government's reasons behind doing so.Read more about the CJI's speech at his felicitation event, here.