The Supreme Court collegium has recommended Justice Dipankar Datta, the Bengal-born chief justice of Bombay High Court, for elevation to the apex court.

If the Centre clears the recommendation, Justice Datta will have a long tenure in the Supreme Court, retiring only in February 2030. He will be the second senior-most judge at the time of retirement.

The apex court now has only one judge from Bengal, Justice Aniruddha Bose, who retires on April 10, 2024. Last week, another Supreme Court judge from Bengal, Justice Indira Banerjee, had retired.

Justice Datta was appointed a permanent judge of Calcutta High Court on June 22, 2006. He became chief justice of Bombay High Court on April 28, 2020.

The Supreme Court now has 29 judges against a sanctioned strength of 34.

“The Supreme Court collegium in its meeting held on 26th September 2022 has recommended elevation of Mr Justice Dipankar Datta… as judge of the Supreme Court,” an official statement released on Tuesday morning said.

The collegium is headed by Chief Justice U.U. Lalit and includes the next four senior-most judges: Justices D.Y. Chandrachud, Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Abdul Nazeer and K.M. Joseph.