Chief Justice Mohammad Rafiq

Justice Dipankar Datta

MUMBAI: The President of India on Thursday appointed Justice Dipankar Datta , senior judge of Calcutta high court as the Chief Justice of Bombay high court and also appointed Justice Biswanath Somadder of Allahabad high court as Chief Justice of Meghalaya high court and transferred Chief Justice Mohammad Rafiq as Chief Justice of Orissa high court.The notifications were issued four days after the Supreme Court collegium recommended their names for the elevations and transfer.The notification for Justice Datta says it will come into effect "from the date he assumes charge of his office." The present CJ of Bombay high court BP Dharmadhikari retires on April 28 and his last day is April 27 where he will be presiding in Nagpur bench of the HC. The new Chief Justice will be sworn in on April 28 and is expected to leave for Mumbai by road on Saturday via Nagpur.Justice Datta born in 1965 will be one of the younger CJs that Bombay HC has got in a long time. He is the second senior most judge at Calcutta HC. Born into a judges’ family, he is the son of former Calcutta HC Judge Salil Kumar Datta and brother-in-law of Justice Amitava Roy, former SC judge. He was also the first batch of the five-year law curriculum in Calcutta University in 1989 and after being a counsel for the Centre since 1998 and for the state for two years in 2002-2004, he was rapidly elevated to the bench of Calcutta HC in June 2006. His practice area included constitutional law and educational and civil matters.Justice Somadder, also just two years older than Justice Datta, like him hails as judge from Calcutta HC. He was the acting CJ of Calcutta HC in 2019 from January to April and transferred to Allahabad HC on October 17, 2019. He has practiced law since 1989 in Calcutta and also before the Supreme Court as well as CESTAT for customs, central exise cases with a specialization in revenue, arbitration and Constitutional laws. He was a senior counsel for the Central government in the HC of Calcutta and was elevated as HC judge, like Justice Datta in 2006. Apart from law, his passion also, unknown to many lies in driving. He is a keen motorist and takes to the driving seat himself during vacations, sometimes.CJ Rafiq, also was appointed judge of Rajasthan high court in 2006 while he was serving as Additional Advocate General for Rajathan. He was elevated as judge of Meghalaya HC in November 2019.